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HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 
BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK. 


THE  FRONTIERSMEN 


THE  FRONTIERSMEN 


BY 


CHARLES  EGBERT  CRADDOCK 

Author  of  A  Spectre  of  Power,  The  Prophet  of 

the  Great  Smoky  Mountains,  In  the 

Tennessee  Mountains,  etc. 


BOSTON   AND   NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 


1904 


COPYRIGHT   1904    BY   MARY   N.   MURFREE 
ALL    RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  Apri 


CONTENTS 


PAOB 

THE  LINGUISTER 1 

A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 101 

THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI.     .    .  177 
THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE    .     .  227 
THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS  .     .    .     .  277 
THE  VISIT  OF  THE  TURBULENT  GRAND 
FATHER 313 

NOTES  347 


'34 


THE  LINGUISTEE 


THE   LINGUISTER 

THE  mental  image  of  the  world  is  of  individ 
ual  and  varying  compass.  It  may  be  likened 
to  one  of  those  curious  Chinese  balls  of 
quaintly  carved  ivory,  containing  other  balls, 
one  within  another,  the  proportions  ever 
dwindling  with  each  successive  inclosure, 
yet  each  a  more  minute  duplicate  of  the 
external  sphere.  This  might  seem  the  least 
world  of  all,  —  the  restricted  limits  of  the 
quadrangle  of  this  primitive  stockade,  — 
but  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne  Mivane  had 
known  no  other  than  such  as  this.  It  was 
large  enough  for  her,  for  a  fairy-like  face, 
very  fair,  with  golden  brown  hair,  that 
seemed  to  have  entangled  the  sunshine,  and 
lustrous  brown  eyes,  looked  out  of  an  em 
brasure  (locally  called  "port-hole")  of  the 
blockhouse,  more  formidable  than  the  swivel 
gun  once  mounted  there,  commanding  the 
entrance  to  the  stockade  gate.  Her  aspect 
might  have  suggested  that  Titania  herself 
had  resorted  to  military  methods  and  was 


6  THE  LINGUISTER 

although  in  the  lapse  of  time  they  have  come 
to  pose  successfully  in  the  dignified  guise  of 
the  "  wise  patriots  of  the  pioneer  period." 
More  than  once  when  the  station  was  at 
tacked  and  the  women  loaded  the  guns  of 
the  men  to  expedite  the  shooting,  she  kept 
stanchly  at  his  elbow  throughout  the  thun 
derous  conflict,  and  charged  and  primed  the 
alternate  rifles  which  he  fired.1  Over  the  trig 
ger,  in  fact,  the  fateful  word  was  spoken. 

"  Oh,  Nan,"  he  exclaimed,  looking  down 
at  her  while  taking  the  weapon  from  her 
hand  in  the  vague  dusk  where  she  knelt  be 
side  him, — he  stood  on  the  shelf  that  served 
as  banquette  to  bring  him  within  reach  of 
the  loophole,  placed  so  high  in  the  hope 
that  a  chance  shot  entering  might  range 
only  among  the  rafters,  —  "  How  quick  you 
are  !  How  you  help  me  !  " 

The  thunderous  crash  of  the  double  volley 
of  the  settlers  firing  twice,  by  the  aid  of 
their  feminine  auxiliaries,  to  every  volley  of 
the  Indians,  overwhelmed  for  the  moment 
the  tumult  of  the  fiendish  whoops  in  the 
wild  darkness  outside,  and  then  the  fusillade 
of  the  return  fire,  like  leaden  hail,  rattled 
against  the  tough  log  walls  of  the  station. 


THE  LINGUISTER  7 

"  Are  you  afraid,  Nan  ?  "  he  asked,  as  he 
received  again  the  loaded  weapon  from  her 
hand. 

"  Afraid  ?  —  No  !  "  exclaimed  Peninnah 
Penelope  Anne  Mivane  —  hardly  taller  than 
the  ramrod  with  which  she  was  once  more 
driving  the  charge  home. 

He  saw  her  face,  delicate  and  blonde,  in 
the  vivid  white  flare  from  the  rifle  as  he 
thrust  it  through  the  loophole  and  fired. 
"  You  think  I  can  take  care  of  you  ?  "  he 
demanded,  while  the  echo  died  away,  and  a 
lull  ensued. 

"I  know  you  can,"  she  replied,  adjust 
ing  with  the  steady  hand  of  an  expert  the 
patching  over  the  muzzle  of  the  discharged 
weapon  in  the  semi-obscurity. 

A  blood-curdling  shout  came  from  the 
Cherokees  in  the  woods  with  a  deeper  roar 
of  musketry  at  closer  quarters ;  and  a  hollow 
groan  within  the  blockhouse,  where  there 
was  a  sudden  commotion  in  the  dim  light, 
told  that  some  bullet  had  found  its  billet. 

"  They  are  coming  to  the  attack  again  — 
Hand  me  the  rifle  —  quick — quick —  Oh, 
Nan,  how  you  help  me  !  How  brave  you 
are  —  I  love  you !  I  love  you !  " 


8  THE  LINGUISTER 

"  Look  out  now  for  a  flash  in  the  pan  ! " 
Peninnah  Penelope  Anne  merely  admon 
ished  him. 

Being  susceptible  to  superstition  and  a 
ponderer  on  omens,  Ralph  Emsden  often 
thought  fretfully  afterward  on  the  double 
meaning  of  these  words,  and  sought  to  dis 
place  them  in  their  possible  evil  influence 
on  his  future  by  some  assurance  more  cheer 
ful  and  confident.  With  this  view  he  often 
earnestly  beset  her,  but  could  secure  no 
thing  more  pleasing  than  a  reference  to  the 
will  of  her  grandfather  and  a  protestation 
to  abide  by  his  decision  in  the  matter. 

Now  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne's  grand 
father  was  deaf.  His  was  that  hopeless  vari 
ety  of  the  infirmity  which  heard  no  more 
than  he  desired.  His  memory,  however,  was 
unimpaired,  and  it  may  be  that  certain 
recollections  of  his  own  experiences  in  the 
past  remained  with  him,  making  him  a  fine 
judge  of  the  signs  of  the  present.  Emsden, 
appalled  by  the  necessity  of  shrieking  out 
his  love  within  the  acute  and  well-applied 
hearing  facilities  of  the  families  of  some  ten 
"  stationers,"  to  use  the  phrase  of  the  day, 
diligently  sought  to  decoy,  on  successive 


THE  LINGUISTER  9 

occasions,  Richard  Mivane  out  to  the  com 
parative  solitudes  of  the  hunting,  the  fish 
ing,  the  cropping.  In  vain.  Richard  Mivane 
displayed  sudden  extreme  prudential  care 
against  surprise  and  capture  by  Indians, 
when  this  was  possible,  and  when  impossible 
he  developed  unexpected  and  unexampled 
resources  of  protective  rheumatism.  The 
young  lover  was  equally  precluded  from  set 
ting  forth  the  state  of  his  affections  and  the 
prospects  of  his  future  in  writing.  Apart 
from  the  absurdity  of  thus  approaching  a 
man  whom  he  saw  twenty  times  a  day,  old 
Mivane  would  permit  no  such  intimation 
of  the  extent  of  his  affliction,  —  it  being  a 
point  of  pride  with  him  that  he  was  merely 
slightly  hard  of  hearing,  and  suffered  only 
from  the  indistinctness  of  the  enunciation 
of  people  in  general.  And  indeed,  it  was 
variously  contended  that  he  was  so  deaf  that 
he  could  not  hear  a  gun  fired  at  his  elbow ; 
and  yet  that  he  heard  all  manner  of  secrets 
which  chanced  to  be  detailed  in  his  pre 
sence,  in  inadvertent  reliance  on  his  inca 
pacity,  and  had  not  the  smallest  hesitation 
afterward  in  their  disclosure,  being  entitled 
to  them  by  right  of  discovery,  as  it  were. 


10  THE  LINGUISTER 

Emsden,  in  keen  anxiety,  doubtful  if 
his  suit  were  seriously  disapproved,  or  if 
these  demonstrations  were  only  prompted 
by  old  Mivane's  selfish  aversion  to  give 
away  his  granddaughter,  finally  summoned 
all  his  courage,  and  in  a  stentorian  roar 
proclaimed  to  the  old  gentleman  his  senti 
ments. 

Richard  Mi  vane  was  a  man  of  many 
punctilious  habitudes,  who  wore  cloth  in 
stead  of  buckskin,  however  hard  it  might 
be  to  come  by,  and  silver  knee-buckles  and 
well-knit  hose  on  his  still  shapely  calves, 
and  a  peruke  carefully  powdered  and  tended. 
He  had  a  keen,  wrinkled,  bloodless  face, 
discerning,  clever,  gray  eyes,  heavy,  over 
hanging,  grizzled  eyebrows,  and  a  gentle 
manly  mouth  of  a  diplomatic,  well-bred, 
conservative  expression. 

It  was  said  at  Blue  Lick  Station  that  he 
had  fled  from  his  own  country,  the  north  of 
England,  on  account  of  an  affair  of  honor, 
—  a  duel  in  early  life,  —  and  that  however 
distasteful  the  hardships  and  comparative 
poverty  of  this  new  home,  it  was  far  safer  for 
him  than  the  land  of  his  birth.  His  worldly 
position  there  gave  him  sundry  claims 


THE  LINGUISTER  11 

of  superiority,  for  all  of  which  his  hardy 
pioneer  son  had  had  scant  sympathy ;  and 
Ralph  Emsden,  in  the  difficult  crisis  of  the 
disclosure  of  the  state  of  his  affections, 
heaved  many  a  sigh  for  this  simple  manly 
soul's  untimely  fate. 

The  elder  Mivane,  with  his  head  bent  for 
ward,  his  hand  behind  his  ear,  sat  in  his 
arm-chair  while  he  hearkened  blandly  to  the 
sentimental  statements  which  Emsden  was 
obliged  to  shout  forth  twice.  Then  Richard 
Mivane  cleared  his  throat  with  a  sort  of 
preliminary  gentlemanly  embarrassment,  and 
went  fluently  on  with  that  suave  low  voice 
so  common  to  the  very  deaf.  "  Command 
me,  sir,  command  me !  It  will  give  me  much 
pleasure  to  use  my  influence  on  your  behalf 
to  obtain  an  ensigncy.  I  will  myself  write 
at  the  first  opportunity,  the  first  express,  to 
Lieutenant-Go vernor  Bull,  who  is  acquainted 
with  my  family  connections  in  England.  It 
is  very  praiseworthy,  very  laudable  indeed, 
that  you  should  aspire  to  a  commission  in 
the  military  service,  —  the  provincial  forces. 
I  honor  you  for  your  readiness  to  fight  — 
although,  to  be  sure,  being  Irish,  you  can't 
help  it.  Still,  it  is  to  your  credit  that  you 


12  THE  LINGUISTER 

are  Irish.  I  am  very  partial  to  the  Irish 
traits  of  character  —  was  once  in  Ireland 
myself  —  visited  an  uncle  there  "  —  and 
so  forth  and  so  forth. 

And  thus  poor  Ralph  Emsden,  who  was 
only  Irish  by  descent,  and  could  not  have 
found  Ireland  on  the  map  were  he  to  hang 
for  his  ignorance,  and  had  been  born  and 
bred  in  the  Royal  province  of  South  Caro 
lina,  —  which  country  he  considered  the 
crown  and  glory  of  the  world,  — was  con 
strained  to  listen  to  all  the  doings  and  say 
ings  of  Richard  Mivane  in  Ireland  from  the 
time  that  he  embarked  on  the  wild  Irish  Sea, 
which  scrupled  not  to  take  unprecedented 
liberties  with  so  untried  a  sailor,  till  the 
entrance  of  other  pioneers  cut  short  a  be 
guiling  account  of  his  first  meeting  with 
potheen  in  its  native  haunts,  and  the  bewil 
dering  pranks  that  he  and  that  tricksy  sprite 
played  together  in  those  the  irresponsible 
days  of  his  youth. 

Emsden  told  no  one,  not  even  Peninnah 
Penelope  Anne,  of  his  discomfiture ;  but 
alack,  there  were  youngsters  in  the  family 
of  unaffected  minds  and  unimpaired  hear 
ing.  This  was  made  amply  manifest  a  day 


THE  LINGUISTER  13 

or  so  afterward,  when  he  chanced  to  pause 
at  the  door  of  the  log  cabin  and  glance 
in,  hoping  that,  perhaps,  the  queen  of  his 
dreams  might  materialize  in  this  humble 
domicile. 

The  old  gentleman  slept  in  his  chair,  with 
dreams  of  his  own,  perchance,  for  his  early 
life  might  have  furnished  a  myriad  gay 
fancies  for  his  later  years.  The  glare  of 
noonday  lay  on  the  unshaded  spaces  of  the 
quadrangle  without ;  for  all  trees  had  been 
felled,  even  far  around  the  inclosure,  lest 
thence  they  might  afford  vantage  and  am 
bush  for  musketry  fire  or  a  flight  of  arrows 
into  the  stockade.  Through  rifts  in  the  foli 
age  at  considerable  distance  one  could  see 
the  dark  mountain  looming  high  above,  and 
catch  glimpses  of  the  further  reaches  of 
the  Great  Smoky  Range,  blue  and  shim 
mering  far  away,  and  even  distinguish  the 
crest  of  "  Big  Injun  Mountain  "  on  the  sky 
line.  The  several  cabins,  all  connected  by 
that  row  of  protective  palisades  from  one  to 
another  like  a  visible  expression  of  the  chord 
of  sympathy  and  mutual  helpful  neighbor- 
liness,  were  quiet,  their  denizens  dining 
within.  At  the  blockhouse  a  guard  was 


14  THE  LINGUISTER 

mounted  —  doubtless  a  watchful  and  stanch 
lookout,  but  unconforming  to  military  meth 
ods,  for  he  sang,  to  speed  the  time,  a  met 
rical  psalm  of  David's ;  the  awkward  collo 
cation  of  the  words  of  this  version  would 
forever  distort  the  royal  poet's  meaning  if 
he  had  no  other  vehicle  of  his  inspiration. 
There  were  long  waits  between  the  drowsy 
lines,  and  in  the  intervals  certain  callow 
voices,  with  the  penetrating  timbre  of  youth, 
came  to  Emsden's  ear.  His  eyes  followed 
the  sound  quickly. 

The  little  sisters  of  Peninnah  Penelope 
Anne  were  on  the  floor  before  a  playhouse, 
outlined  by  stones  and  sticks,  and  with  rapt 
faces  and  competent  fancies,  saw  whatso 
ever  they  would.  In  these  riches  of  imagi 
nation  a  little  brother  also  partook.  A  stick, 
accoutred  in  such  wise  with  scraps  of  buck 
skin  as  to  imitate  a  gallant  of  the  place  and 
period,  was  bowing  respectfully  before  an 
other  stick,  vested  in  the  affabilities  of  age 
and  the  simulacrum  of  a  dressing-gown. 

"  I  love  your  granddaughter,  sir,  and 
wish  to  make  her  my  wife,"  said  the  bowing 
stick. 

"  Command  me,  sir  ;  command  me  !  " 
suavely  replied  the  stick  stricken  in  years. 


THE  LINGUISTER  15 

The  scene  had  been  an  eye-opener  to  the 
tender  youth  of  the  little  Mivanes ;  the 
pomp  and  circumstance  of  a  sentimental  dis 
closure  they  would  never  forget. 

Emsden,  as  hardy  a  pioneer  as  ever  drew 
a  bead  on  a  panther  or  an  Indian,  passed 
on,  quaking  at  the  thought  of  the  wits  of 
the  Station  as  he  had  never  yet  feared  man, 
and  his  respected  Irish  blood  ran  cold.  And 
when  it  waxed  warm  with  wrath  once  more 
it  came  to  pass  that  to  utter  the  simple 
phrase  "  Command  me  "  was  as  much  as  a 
man's  life  was  worth  at  Blue  Lick  Station. 

Emsden  thought  ruefully  of  the  girl's 
mother  and  wondered  if  her  intercession 
would  avail  aught  with  the  old  autocrat. 
But  he  had  not  yet  ventured  upon  this. 
There  was  nothing  certain  about  Mrs.  Mi- 
vane  but  her  uncertainty.  She  never  gave  a 
positive  opinion.  Her  attitude  of  mind  was 
only  to  be  divined  by  inference.  She  never 
gave  a  categorical  answer.  And  indeed  he 
would  not  have  been  encouraged  to  learn 
that  Richard  Mivane  himself  had  already  con 
sulted  his  daughter-in-law,  as  in  this  high 
handed  evasion  of  any  decision  he  felt  the 
need  of  support.  For  once  the  old  gentle- 


16  THE  LINGUISTER 

man  was  not  displeased  with  her  reply,  com 
prehensive,  although  glancing  aside  from  the 
point.  Since  there  were  so  many  young  men 
in  the  country,  said  Mrs.  Mivane,  she  saw 
no  reason  for  despair  !  With  this  approval 
of  his  temporizing  policy  Richard  Mivane 
left  the  matter  to  the  development  of  the 
future. 

Emsden's  depression  would  have  been 
more  serious  had  he  not  fortunately  sun 
dry  tokens  of  the  old  man's  favor  to  cher 
ish  in  his  memory,  which  seemed  to  inti 
mate  that  this  elusiveness  was  only  a  shrewd 
scheme  to  delay  and  thwart  him  rather 
than  a  positive  and  reasonable  disposition 
to  deny  his  suit.  In  short,  Emsden  began  to 
realize  that  instead  of  a  damsel  of  eighteen 
he  had  to  court  a  coquette  rising  sixty,  of 
the  sterner  sex,  and  deafer  than  an  adder 
when  he  chose.  His  artful  quirks  were  des 
tined  to  try  the  young  lover's  diplomacy  to 
the  utmost,  and  Emsden  appreciated  this, 
but  he  reassured  himself  with  the  reflection 
that  it  was  better  thus  than  if  it  were  the 
girl  who  vacillated  and  delighted  to  torture 
him  with  all  the  arts  of  a  first-class  jilt.  He 
was  constantly  in  and  out  of  the  house 


THE  LINGUISTER  17 

almost  as  familiarly  as  if  he  were  already 
betrothed,  for  in  the  troublous  period  that 
seemed  now  closing,  with  its  sudden  flights, 
its  panics,  its  desperate  conflicts  with  the 
Indians,  he  had  been  able  to  give  an  almost 
filial  aid  to  Richard  Mivane  in  the  stead  of 
the  son  whom  the  old  man  had  lost. 

Richard  Mivane  had  always  felt  himself  an 
alien,  a  sojourner  in  this  new  land,  and 
perchance  he  might  not  have  been  able  even 
partially  to  reconcile  himself  to  the  ruder 
conditions  of  his  later  life  if  the  bursting 
of  a  financial  bubble  had  not  swept  away 
all  hope  of  returning  to  the  status  of  his 
earlier  home  in  England  when  the  tragedy 
of  the  duel  had  been  sunk  in  oblivion.  The 
frontier  was  a  fine  place  to  hide  one's  pov 
erty  and  fading  graces,  he  had  once  re 
marked,  and  thereafter  had  seemed  to  resign 
himself  to  its  hardships,  — indeed,  sometimes 
he  consigned  his  negro  body-servant,  Csesar, 
to  other  duties  than  his  exclusive  attendance. 
He  had  even  been  known  to  breakfast  with 
his  head  tied  up  in  a  handkerchief  when 
some  domestic  crisis  had  supervened,  such 
as  the  escape  of  all  the  horses  from  the  pin 
fold,  to  call  away  his  barber.  As  this  f unc- 


18  THE  LINGUISTER 

tionary  was  of  an  active  temperament  and 
not  at  all  averse  to  the  labor  in  the  fields, 
he  proved  of  more  value  thus  utilized  than 
in  merely  furnishing  covert  amusement  to 
the  stationers  by  his  pompous  duplication  of 
his  master's  attitude  of  being  too  cultured, 
traveled,  and  polished  for  his  surroundings. 
He  was  a  trained  valet,  however,  expert  in 
all  the  details  of  dressing  hair,  powdering, 
curling,  pomatuming,  and  other  intricacies 
of  the  toilet  of  a  man  of  fashion  of  that  day. 
Caesar  had  many  arts  at  command  touching 
the  burnishing  of  buckles  and  buttons,  and 

O  7 

even  in  clear-starching  steinkirks  and  the 
cambric  ruffles  of  shirts.  As  he  ploughed 
he  was  wont  to  tell  of  his  wonderful  ex 
periences  while  in  his  master's  service  in 
London  (although  he  had  never  crossed  the 
seas) ;  and  these  being  accepted  with  seem 
ing  seriousness,  he  carried  his  travels  a  step 
farther  and  described  the  life  he  remem 
bered  in  the  interior  of  Guinea  (although 
he  had  never  seen  the  shores  of  Africa). 
This  life  so  closely  resembled  that  of  Lon 
don  that  it  was  often  difficult  to  distinguish 
the  locality  of  the  incidents,  an  incongruity 
that  enchanted  the  wags  of  the  settlement, 


THE  LINGUISTER  19 

who  continually  incited  him  to  prodigies 
of  narration.  The  hairbreadth  escapes  that 
he  and  his  fellow-servants,  as  well  as  the 
white  people,  had  had  from  the  wrath  of  the 
Indians,  whom  the  negroes  feared  beyond 
measure,  and  their  swift  flights  from  one 
stockade  to  another  in  those  sudden  panics 
during  the  troubled  period  preceding  the 
Cherokee  War,  might  have  seemed  more 
exciting  material  for  romancing  for  a  ven 
turesome  Munchausen,  but  perhaps  these 
realities  were  too  stern  to  afford  any  interest 
in  the  present  or  glamour  in  the  past. 

It  was  somewhat  as  a  prelude  to  the  siege 
of  Fort  Loudon  by  the  Cherokees  in  1760 
that  they  stormed  and  triumphantly  carried 
several  minor  stations  to  the  southeast. 
Although  Blue  Lick  sustained  the  attack, 
still,  in  view  of  the  loss  of  a  number  of  its 
gallant  defenders,  the  settlers  retreated  at 
the  first  opportunity  to  the  more  sheltered 
frontier  beyond  Fort  Prince  George,  living 
from  hand  to  mouth,  some  at  Long  Cane 
and  some  at  Ninety  -  Six,  through  those 
years  when  first  Montgomerie  and  then 
Grant  made  their  furious  forays  through  the 
Cherokee  country.  Emsden,  having  served  in 


20  THE  LINGUISTER 

the  provincial  regiment,  eagerly  coveted  a 
commission,  of  which  Richard  Mivane  had 
feigned  to  speak.  Now  that  the  Chero- 
kees  were  ostensibly  pacified,  —  that  is,  ex 
hausted,  decimated,  their  towns  burned,  their 
best  and  bravest  slain,  their  hearts  broken,  — 
the  fugitives  from  this  settlement  on  the 
Eupharsee  River,  as  the  Hiwassee  was  then 
called,  gathered  their  household  gods  and 
journeyed  back  to  Blue  Lick,  to  cry  out  in 
the  wilderness  that  they  were  "  home  "  once 
more,  and  clasp  each  other's  hands  in  joyful 
gratulation  to  witness  the  roofs  and  stock 
ade  rise  again,  rebuilt  as  of  yore.  Strangely 
enough,  there  were  old  Cherokee  friends  to 
greet  them  anew  and  to  be  welcomed  into 
the  stockade  ;  for  even  the  rigid  rule  of  war 
and  hate  must  needs  be  proved  by  its  excep 
tions.  And  there  were  one  or  two  pensive 
philosophers  among  the  English  settlers 
vaguely  sad  to  see  all  the  Cherokee  tradi 
tions  and  prestige,  and  remnants  of  prehis 
toric  pseudo-civilization,  shattered  in  the 
dust,  and  the  tremulous,  foreign,  unaccus 
tomed  effort — half-hearted,  half -believing, 
half -understanding  —  to  put  on  the  habi 
tude  of  a  new  civilization. 


THE  LINGUISTER  21 

"  The  white  man's  religion  permits  pov 
erty,  but  the  Indian  divides  his  store  with 
the  needy,  and  there  are  none  suffered  to  be 
poor,"  said  Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  the  famous 
chief.  "  The  white  men  wrangle  and  quar 
rel  together,  even  brother  with  brother  ; 
with  us  the  inner  tribal  peace  is  ever  un 
broken.  The  white  men  slay  and  rob  and 
oppress  the  poor,  and  with  many  cunning 
treaties  take  now  our  lands  and  now  our 
lives ;  then  they  offer  us  their  religion  ;  — 
why  does  it  seem  so  like  an  empty  bowl  ?  " 

"  Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  you  know  that  I  am 
deaf,"  said  Eichard  Mivane,  "  and  you  ask 
me  such  hard  questions  that  I  am  not  able 
to  hear  them." 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  these  sta 
tioners  in  the  vanguard  of  the  irrepressible 
march  of  western  emigration  had  been  tres 
passers,  and  thus  earned  their  misfortunes, 
in  some  sort,  by  their  encroachment  on  In 
dian  territory  ;  although  since  the  war  the 
Cherokee  boundaries  had  become  more  vague 
than  heretofore,  it  being  considered  that 
Grant's  operations  had  extended  the  fron 
tier  by  some  seventy  miles.  It  may  be,  too, 
that  the  Blue  Lick  settlers  held  their  own 


22  THE  LINGUISTER 

by  right  of  private  purchase  ;  for  the  in 
hibition  to  the  acquisition  of  land  in  this 
way  from  the  Indians  was  not  enacted  till 
the  following  year,  1763,  after  the  events 
to  be  herein  detailed,  and,  indeed,  such 
purchases  even  further  west  and  of  an 
earlier  date  are  of  record,  albeit  of  doubtful 
legality. 

Now  that  peace  in  whatever  maimed 
sort  had  come  to  this  stricken  land  and 
these  adventurous  settlers,  who  held  their 
lives,  their  all,  by  such  precarious  tenure, 
internecine  strife  must  needs  arise  among 
them ;  not  the  hand  of  brother  against 
brother,  —  they  were  spared  that  grief, — 
but  one  tender,  struggling  community 
against  another. 

And  it  came  about  in  this  wise. 

One  day  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne  Mi- 
vane,  watching  from  the  "  port-hole  "  of  the 
blockhouse,  where  the  muzzle  of  that  dog 
of  war  the  little  swivel  gun  had  once  been 
wont  to  look  forth,  beheld  Ralph  Emsden 
ride  out  from  the  stockade  gate  for  a  week's 
absence  with  a  party  of  hunters  ;  with  bluff 
but  tender  assurance  he  waved  his  hat  and 
hand  to  her  in  farewell. 


THE  LENGUISTER  23 

"  Before  all  the  men  !  "  she  said  to  her 
self,  half  in  prudish  dismay  at  his  effrontery, 
and  yet  pleased  that  he  did  not  sheepishly 
seek  to  conceal  his  preference.  And  al 
though  the  men  (there  were  but  two  or 
three  and  not  half  the  province,  as  her  hor 
ror  of  this  publicity  would  seem  to  imply) 
said  with  a  grin  "  Command  me  !  "  they  said 
it  sotto  voce  and  only  to  each  other. 

Spring  was  once  more  afoot  in  the  land. 
They  daily  marked  her  advance  as  they 
went.  Halfway  up  the  mountains  she  had 
climbed :  for  the  maples  were  blooming  in 
rich  dark  reds  that  made  the  nearer  slopes 
even  more  splendid  of  garb  than  the  velvet 
azure  of  the  distant  ranges,  the  elms  had 
put  forth  delicate  sprays  of  emerald  tint, 
and  the  pines  all  bore  great  wax-like  tapers 
amidst  their  evergreen  boughs,  as  if  ready 
for  kindling  for  some  great  festival.  It  is 
a  wonderful  thing  to  hear  a  wind  singing 
in  myriads  of  their  branches  at  once.  The 
surging  tones  of  this  oratorio  of  nature  re 
sounded  for  miles  along  the  deep  indented 
ravines  and  the  rocky  slopes  of  the  Great 
Smoky  Mountains.  Now  and  again  the  flow 
of  a  torrent  or  the  dash  of  a  cataract  added 


24  THE  LINGUISTER 

fugue-like  effects.  The  men  were  constantly 
impressed  by  these  paeans  of  the  forests ; 
the  tuft  of  violets  abloom  beneath  a  horse's 
hoofs  might  be  crushed  unnoticed,  but  the 
acoustic  conditions  of  the  air  and  the  high 
floating  of  the  tenuous  white  clouds  against 
a  dense  blue  sky,  promising  rain  in  due 
season,  evoked  a  throb  of  satisfaction  in  the 
farmer's  heart  not  less  sincere  because  un- 
sesthetic.  The  farmer's  toil  had  hardly  yet 
begun,  the  winter's  hunt  being  just  con 
cluded,  and  each  of  the  stationers  with  a 
string  of  led  horses  was  bound  for  his  camps 
and  caches  to  bring  in  the  skins  that  made 
the  profit  of  the  season. 

One  of  this  group  of  three  was  the  psalm- 
singer  of  the  blockhouse.  His  name  was 
Xerxes  Alexander  Anxley,  and  he  was  un 
ceremoniously  called  by  the  community 
"  X,"  and  by  Mi  vane  "  the  unknown  quan 
tity,"  for  he  was  something  of  an  enigma, 
and  his  predilections  provoked  much  specu 
lation.  He  was  a  religionist  of  ascetic,  ex 
treme  views,  —  a  type  rare  in  this  region,  — 
coming  originally  from  the  colony  of  the 
Salzburgers  established  in  Georgia. 

We  are  less  disposed  to  be  tolerant  of 


THE  LINGUISTER  25 

individual  persuasions  which  imply  a  per 
sonal  and  unpleasant  reflection.  Xerxes 
Alexander  Anxley  disapproved  of  dancing, 
and  the  community  questioned  his  sanity ; 
for  these  early  pioneers  in  the  region  of 
the  Great  Smoky  Range  carried  the  rifle 
over  one  shoulder  and  the  fiddle  over  the 
other.  He  disapproved  of  secular  songs  and 
idle  stories,  and  the  settlement  questioned 
his  taste;  for  it  was  the  delight  of  the  sta 
tioners,  old  and  young,  to  gather  around 
the  hearth,  and,  while  the  chestnuts  roasted 
in  the  fire  for  the  juniors,  and  the  jovial 
horn,  as  it  was  called,  circulated  among  the 
elders,  the  oft-told  story  was  rehearsed  and 
the  old  song  sung  anew.  He  even  disap 
proved  of  the  jovial  horn  —  and  the  set 
tlement  questioned  his  sincerity. 

This  man  Anxley  looked  his  ascetic  char 
acter.  He  had  a  hard  pragmatic  counte 
nance,  and  one  of  those  noses  which  though 
large  and  bony  come  suddenly  short  and 
blunted.  His  eyes,  small,  gray,  and  inscru 
table,  seemed  unfriendly,  so  baffling,  intro 
spective,  unnoting  was  their  inattentiveness. 
His  hair  was  of  a  sort  of  carrot  tint,  which 
color  was  reproduced  in  paler  guise  in  his 


26  THE  LINGUISTER 

fringed  buckskin  shirt  and  leggings,  worn 
on  a  sturdy  and  powerful  frame.  His  mouth 
was  shut  hard  and  fast  upon  his  convic 
tions,  as  if  to  denote  that  he  could  not  be 
argued  out  of  them,  and  when  the  lips 
parted  its  lines  were  scarcely  more  mobile, 
and  his  words  were  usually  framed  to  doubt 
one's  state  of  grace  and  to  contravene  one's 
tenets  as  to  final  salvation.  He  rode  much 
of  the  tune  with  the  reins  loose  on -his  horse's 
neck,  and  perhaps  no  man  in  the  saddle  had 
ever  been  so  addicted  to  psalmody  since  the 
days  of  Cromwell's  troopers.  His  theologi 
cal  disputations  grated  peculiarly  upon  Ems- 
den's  mood,  and  he  always  laid  at  his  door 
the  disaster  that  followed. 

"  If  I  had  n't  been  so  traveled  that  day, 
—  dragged  through  hell  and  skirting  of 
purgatory  and  knocking  at  the  gates  of 
heaven,  —  I  would  n't  have  lost  my  wits  so 
suddenly  when  I  came  back  to  earth  with  a 
bounce,"  Emsden  afterward  declared. 

For  as  the  hunters  were  coming  at  a 
brisk  trot  in  single  file  along  the  "  old 
trading  path,"  as  it  was  called  even  then, 
the  fleecy  white  clouds  racing  above  in  the 
dense  blue  of  the  sky,  their  violet  shadows 


THE  LINGUISTER  27 

fleeting  as  swift  along  the  slopes  of  the 
velvet-soft  azure  mountains,  and  the  wind 
far  outstripping  them  in  the  vernal  budding 
woods,  a  sudden  stir  near  at  hand  caused 
Emsden  to  turn  his  head.  Just  above  him, 
on  a  rugged  slope  where  no  trees  grew  save 
a  scraggy  cedar  here  and  there  amidst  the 
shelving  ledges  of  rock  outcropping  through 
the  soft  verdant  turf,  he  saw  a  stealthy,  fur 
tive  shape  ;  he  was  aware  of  a  hasty  cowed 
glance  over  the  shoulder,  and  then  a  stretch 
ing  of  supple  limbs  in  flight.  Before  he 
himself  hardly  knew  it  the  sharp  crack  of 
his  rifle  rang  out,  —  the  aim  was  almost 
instinctive. 

And  it  was  as  true  as  instinct,  —  a  large 
black  wolf,  his  pelt  glossy  and  fresh  with 
the  renewal  of  the  season,  lay  stretched 
dead  in  an  instant  upon  the  slope.  Emsden 
sprang  from  his  horse,  tossed  the  reins  to 
"  X,"  and,  drawing  his  knife,  ran  up  the 
steep  ascent  to  secure  the  animal's  skin. 

Only  vaguely,  as  in  a  dream,  he  heard  a 
sudden  deep  roar,  beheld  a  horned  creature 
leaping  heavily  upon  its  fore  quarters,  toss 
ing  its  hind  legs  and  tail  into  the  air.  Then 
an  infuriated  bull,  breaking  from  the  bushes, 


28  THE  LINGUISTER 

charged  fiercely  down  upon  him.  Emsden 
threw  himself  into  a  posture  of  defense  as 
instantly  as  if  he  had  been  a  trained  bull 
fighter  and  the  arena  his  wonted  sphere, 
holding  the  knife  close  in  front  of  him, 
presenting  the  blade  with  a  quick  keen  cal 
culation  for  the  animal's  jugular.  The  knife 
was  Emsden's  only  weapon,  for  his  pistols 
were  in  the  holster  on  the  saddle,  and  his 
discharged  rifle  lay  where  he  had  flung  it 
on  the  ground  after  firing.  He  had  only 
time  to  wonder  that  his  comrades  vouch 
safed  him  no  assistance  in  his  extremity. 
Men  of  such  accurate  aim  and  constant 
practice  could  easily  risk  sending  a  rifle-ball 
past  him  to  stop  that  furious  career.  He 
could  see  the  pupil  of  the  bull's  wild  dilated 
eyes,  fiery  as  with  a  spark  of  actual  flame. 
He  could  even  feel  the  hot  puffs  of  the 
creature's  breath  upon  his  cheeks,  when  all 
at  once  the  horned  head  so  close  above  his 
own  swerved  aside  with  a  snort  from  the 
dead  body  of  the  wolf  at  his  feet.  The  bull 
passed  him  like  a  thunderbolt,  and  he  heard 
the  infuriated  stamping  which  fairly  shook 
the  ground  in  the  thicket  below,  where  this 
king  of  the  herds  paused  to  bellow  and  paw 


THE  LINGUISTER  29 

the  earth,  throwing  clods  high  above  the 
environing  copse. 

The  woods  seemed  full  of  maddened, 
frightened  cattle,  and  Emsden's  horse  was 
frantically  galloping  after  the  cavalcade  of 
hunters  and  their  pack-train,  all  the  ani 
mals  more  or  less  beyond  the  control  of  the 
men.  He  felt  it  an  ill  chance  that  left  him 
thus  alone  and  afoot  in  this  dense  wilder 
ness,  several  days'  travel  from  the  station. 
He  was  hardlv  sure  that  he  would  be  missed 

«/ 

by  his  comrades,  themselves  scattered,  the 
pack-horses  having  broken  from  the  path 
which  they  had  traveled  in  single  file,  and 
now  with  their  burdens  of  value  all  foolishly 
careering  wildly  through  the  woods.  The 
first  prudential  care  of  the  hunters  he  knew 
would  be  to  recover  them  and  re-align  the 
train,  lest  some  miscreant,  encountering  the 
animals,  plunder  the  estrays  of  their  loads 
of  hard-won  deerskins  and  furs. 

The  presence  of  cattle  suggested  to  Ems- 
den  the  proximity  of  human  dwellings,  and 
yet  this  was  problematic,  for  beyond  brand 
ing  and  occasional  saltings  the  herds  ranged 
within  large  bounds  on  lands  selected  for 
their  suitability  as  pasturage.  The  dwell- 


30  THE  LINGUISTER 

ings  of  these  pioneer  herdsmen  might  be 
far  away  indeed,  and  in  what  direction  he 
could  not  guess.  Since  the  Cherokee  War, 
and  the  obliteration  of  all  previous  marks 
of  white  settlements  in  this  remote  region, 
Emsden  was  unfamiliar  with  the  more  re 
cent  location  of  "  cow-pens,"  as  the  ranches 
were  called,  and  was  only  approximately 
acquainted  with  the  new  site  of  the  settlers' 
stations.  Nothing  so  alters  the  face  of  a 
country  as  the  moral  and  physical  convul 
sion  of  war.  Even  many  of  the  Indian 
towns  were  deserted  and  half  charred,  — 
burned  by  the  orders  of  the  British  com 
manders.  One  such  stood  in  a  valley  through 
which  he  passed  on  his  homeward  way  ;  the 
tender  vernal  aspect  of  this  green  cove,  held 
in  the  solemn  quiet  of  the  encircling  moun 
tains,  might  typify  peace  itself.  Yet  here 
the  blue  sky  could  be  seen  through  the 
black  skeleton  rafters  of  the  once  pleasant 
homes ;  and  there  were  other  significant 

'  O 

skeletons  in  the  absolute  solitude,  —  the 
great  ribs  of  dead  chargers,  together  with 
broken  bits  and  bridles,  and  remnants  of 
exploded  hand-grenades,  and  a  burst  gun- 
barrel,  all  lying  on  the  bank  of  a  lovely 


THE  LINGUISTER  31 

mountain  stream  at  the  point  where  he 
crossed  it,  as  it  flowed,  crystal  clear,  through 
this  sequestered  bosky  nook. 

Something  of  a  job  this  transit  was,  for 
with  the  spring  freshets  the  water  was  high 
and  the  current  strong,  and  he  was  compelled 
to  use  only  one  hand  for  swimming,  the 
other  holding  high  out  of  the  water's  reach 
his  powder  horn.  For,  despite  any  treaties 
of  peace,  this  was  no  country  for  a  man  to 
traverse  unarmed,  and  an  encounter  with  an 
inimical  wandering  Indian  might  serve  to 
make  for  his  comrades'  curiosity  concerning 
his  fate,  when  they  should  chance  to  have 
leisure  to  feel  it,  a  perpetual  conundrum. 

He  had  never,  however,  made  so  lonely 
a  journey.  Not  one  human  being  did  he 
meet  —  neither  red  man  nor  white  —  in  all 
the  long  miles  of  the  endless  wilderness ; 
naught  astir  save  the  sparse  vernal  shadows 
in  the  budding  woods  and  the  gentle  spring 
zephyr  swinging  past  and  singing  as  it  went. 
Now  and  again  he  noted  how  the  sun  slowly 
dropped  down  the  skies  that  were  so  fine, 
so  fair,  so  blue  that  it  seemed  loath  to  go 
and  leave  the  majestic  peace  of  the  zenith. 
The  stars  scintillated  in  the  dark  night  as 


32  THE  LINGUISTER 

if  a  thousand  bivouac  fires  were  kindled  in 
those  far  spaces  of  the  heavens  responsive  to 
the  fire  which  he  kept  aglow  to  cook  the 
supper  that  his  rifle  fetched  him  and  to 
ward  off  the  approach  of  wolf  or  panther 
while  he  slept.  He  was  doubtless  in  jeo 
pardy  often  enough,  but  chance  befriended 
him  and  he  encountered  naught  inimical  till 
the  fourth  day  when  he  came  in  at  the  gate 
of  the  station  and  met  the  partners  of  the 
hunt,  themselves  not  long  since  arrived. 

They  waited  for  no  reproaches  for  their 
desertion.  They  were  quick  to  upbraid.  As 
they  hailed  him  in  chorus  he  was  bewildered 
for  a  moment,  and  stood  in  the  gateway 
leaning  on  his  rifle,  his  coonskin  cap  thrust 
back  on  his  brown  hair,  his  bright,  steady 
gray  eyes  concentrated  as  he  listened.  His 
tall,  lithe  figure  in  his  buckskin  hunting 
shirt  and  leggings,  the  habitual  garb  of  the 
frontiersmen,  grew  tense  and  gave  an  inti 
mation  of  gathering  all  its  forces  for  the  de 
fensive  as  he  noted  how  the  aspect  of  the 
station  differed  from  its  wonted  guise.  Every 
house  of  the  assemblage  of  little  log  cabins 
stood  open  ;  here  and  there  in  the  misty  air, 
for  there  had  been  a  swift,  short  spring 


THE  LINGUISTEB  33 

shower,  fires  could  be  seen  aglow  on  the 
hearths  within  ;  the  long  slant  of  the  red 
sunset  rays  fell  athwart  the  gleaming  wet 
roofs  and  barbed  the  pointed  tops  of  the 
palisades  with  sharp  glints  of  light,  and  a 
rainbow  showed  all  the  colors  of  the  prism 
high  against  the  azure  mountain  beyond, 
while  a  second  arch  below,  a  dim  duplication, 
spanned  the  depths  of  a  valley.  The  fron 
tiersmen  were  all  in  the  open  spaces  of  the 
square  excitedly  wrangling  —  and  suddenly 
he  became  conscious  of  a  girlish  face  at  the 
embrasure  for  the  cannon  at  the  blockhouse, 
a  face  with  golden  brown  hair  above  it, 
and  a  red  hood  that  had  evidently  been  in 
the  rain.  "  Looking  out  for  me,  I  wonder  ?  " 
he  asked  himself,  and  as  this  glow  of  agi 
tated  speculation  swept  over  him  the  men 
who  plied  him  with  questions  angrily  ad 
monished  his  silence. 

"  He  has  seen  a  wolf !  He  has  seen  a 
wolf !  JT  is  plain  !  "  cried  old  Mivane,  as 
he  stood  in  his  metropolitan  costume  among 
the  buckskin-clad  pioneers.  "  One  would 
know  that  without  being  told  !  " 

"  You  shot  the  wolf  and  stampeded  the 
cattle,  and  the  herders  at  the  cow-pens  on 


34  THE  LINGUISTER 

the  Keowee  Eiver  can't  round  them  up 
again  !  "  cried  one  of  the  settlers. 

"  The  cattle  have  run  to  the  Congarees 
by  this  time ! "  declared  another  pessimis 
tically. 

"  And  it  was  you  that  shot  the  wolf  !  " 
cried  "  X  "  rancorously. 

"  The  herders  are  holding  us  responsible 
and  have  sent  an  ambassador/'  explained 
John  Ronaekstone,  anxiously  knitting  his 
brows,  "  to  inform  us  that  not  a  horse  of 
the  pack-train  from  Blue  Lick  Station  shall 
pass  down  to  Charlestown  till  we  indemnify 
them  for  the  loss  of  the  cattle." 

"  Gadso  !  they  can't  all  be  lost !  "  ex 
claimed  old  Mivane  floutingly. 

"  No,  no  !  the  herders  go  too  far  for 
damages  —  too  far  !  They  are  putting  their 
coulter  too  deep  !  "  said  a  farmer  fresh  from 
the  field.  He  had  still  a  bag  of  seed-grain 
around  his  neck,  and  now  and  again  he 
thrust  in  his  hand  and  fingered  the  kernels. 

"  They  declare  they  '11  seize  our  skins," 
cried  another  ambiguously,  —  then,  con 
scious  of  this,  he  sought  to  amend  the  mat 
ter,  —  "  Not  the  hides  we  wear,"  —  this  was 
no  better,  for  they  were  all  arrayed  in  hides, 


THE  LINGUISTER  35 

save  Richard  Mivane.  "  Not  the  hides  that 
we  were  born  in,  but  our  deerhides,  our 
peltry,  —  they  '11  seize  the  pack-train  from 
Blue  Lick,  and  they  declare  they  '11  call  on 
the  commandant  of  Fort  Prince  George  to 
oppose  its  passing  with  the  king's  troops." 

An  appalled  silence  fell  on  the  quad 
rangle,  —  save  for  the  fresh  notes  of  a  mock 
ingbird,  perching  in  jaunty  guise  on  the 
tower  of  the  blockhouse,  above  which  the 
rainbow  glowed  in  the  radiant  splendors  of 
a  misty  amber  sky. 

"  The  king's  troops  ?  Would  the  com 
mandant  respond?"  anxiously  speculated 
one  of  the  settlers. 

The  little  handful  of  pioneers,  with  their 
main  possessions  in  the  fate  of  the  pack- 
train,  looked  at  one  another  in  dismay. 

"  And  tell  me,  friend  Feather-pate,  why 
did  it  seem  good  to  you  to  shoot  a  wolf  in 
the  midst  of  a  herd  of  cattle  ?  "  demanded 
Richard  Mivane. 

Ralph  Emsden,  bewildered  by  the  results 
of  this  untoward  chance,  and  the  further 
catastrophe  shadowed  forth  in  the  threat 
ened  seizure  of  the  train,  rallied  with  all 
his  faculties  at  the  note  of  scorn  from  this 
quarter. 


36  THE  LINGUISTER 

"  Sir,  I  did  not  shoot  the  wolf  among 
the  cattle.  There  was  not  a  horn  nor  a  hoof 
to  be  seen  when  I  fired." 

Mivane  turned  to  "  X  "  with  both  hands 
outstretched  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Take  that 
for  your  quietus ! "  and  shouldering  his 
stick,  which  had  an  ivory  head  and  a  sword 
within,  strode  off  after  his  jaunty  fashion 
as  if  there  were  no  more  to  be  said. 

It  was  now  Alexander  Anxley's  turn  to 
sustain  the  questioning  clamor.  "  I  will 
not  deny  "  —  "  That  is,  I  said  "  —  "  I 
meant  to  say,"  —  but  these  qualifications 
were  lost  in  the  stress  of  Emsden's  voice, 
once  more  rising  stridently. 

"  Not  a  horn  nor  a  hoof  to  be  seen  till 
after  I  had  fired.  I  did  n't  know  there  were 
any  cow-pens  about  —  did  n't  use  to  be  till 
after  you  had  crossed  the  Keowee.  But  if 
there  had  been,  is  a  man  to  see  a  wolf  pull 
down  a  yearling,  say,  and  not  fire  a  rifle 
because  Madam  Cow  will  take  the  high- 
strikes  or  Cap'n  Bull  will  go  on  the  ram 
page  ?  Must  I  wait  till  I  can  make  a  leg," 
—  he  paused  to  execute  an  exaggerated 
obeisance,  graceful  enough  despite  its 
mockery,  —  " (  Under  your  favor,  Cap'n 


THE  LINGUISTER  37 

Bull/  and  ( With  your  ladyship's  permis 
sion/  before  I  kill  the  ravening  brute,  big 
enough  to  pull  down  a  yearling?  Don't 
talk  to  me  !  Don't  talk  to  me  !  "  He  held 
out  the  palms  of  his  hands  toward  them  in 
interdiction,  and  made  as  if  to  go  —  yet 
went  not ! 

For  a  reactionary  sentiment  toward  him 
had  set  in,  and  there  were  those  fair-minded 
enough,  although  with  their  little  all  at 
stake,  to  admit  that  he  had  acted  with  rea 
sonable  prudence,  and  that  it  was  only  an 
unlucky  chance  which  had  sent  the  panic 
through  the  herds  with  such  disastrous 
effect. 

"  The  herders  should  not  stop  the  pack- 
train,  if  I  had  my  will/'  declared  one  of  the 
settlers  with  a  belligerent  note. 

"  No,  no,"  proclaimed  another ;  "  not  if 
it  takes  all  the  men  at  Blue  Lick  Station 
to  escort  it !  " 

"  Those  blistered  redcoats  at  Fort  Prince 
George  are  a  deal  too  handy  to  be  called 
on  by  such  make-bates  as  the  herders  on 
the  Keowee  River." 

"  Fudge  !  The  commandant  would  never 
let  a  bayonet  stir." 


38  THE  LINGUISTER 

"  Gad  !  I  'd  send  an  ambassador  for  an 
ambassador.  Tit  for  tat,"  declared  Ems- 
den.  "  I  'd  ask  'em  what 's  gone  with  all 
our  horses,  —  last  seen  in  those  desolated 
cow-pens,  —  that  the  voice  of  mourning  is 
now  lifted  about !  " 

There  was  a  chuckle  of  sheer  joy,  so 
abrupt  and  unexpected  that  it  rose  with  a 
clatter  and  a  cackle  of  delight,  and  culmi 
nated  in  a  yell  of  pleasurable  derision. 

Now  everybody  knew  that  the  horses 
bought  in  that  wild  country  would,  unless 
restrained,  return  every  spring  to  "  their 
old  grass,"  as  it  was  called,  —  to  the  places 
where  they  had  formerly  lived.  When  this 
annual  hegira  took  place  in  large  numbers, 
some  permanent  losses  were  sure  to  ensue. 
The  settlers  at  Blue  Lick  had  experienced 
this  disaster,  and  had  accepted  it  as  partly 
the  result  of  their  own  lack  of  precaution 
during  the  homing  fancy  of  the  horses. 
But  since  the  herders  manifested  so  little 
of  the  suavity  that  graces  commercial  inter 
course,  and  as  some  of  the  horses  had  been 
seen  in  their  cow-pens,  it  was  a  happy 
thought  to  feather  the  arrow  with  this 
taunt. 


THE  LINGUISTER  39 

"  And  who  do  you  suppose  will  promise 
to  carry  such  a  message  to  those  desperate, 
misguided  men,  riding  hither  an'  thither, 
searching  this  wild  and  woeful  wilderness 
for  hundreds  o'  head  o'  cattle  lost  like 
needles  in  a  hayrick,  and  eat  by  wolves  an' 
painters  by  this  time  ?  "  demanded  "  X  " 
derisively. 

"  I  promise,  I  promise  !  —  and  with 
hearty  good  will,  too !  "  declared  Emsden. 
"  And  I  '11  tell  'em  that  we  are  coming 
down  soon  armed  to  the  teeth  to  guard  our 
pack-train,  and  fight  our  way  through  any 
resistance  to  its  passage  through  the  coun 
try  on  the  open  trading-path.  And  I  '11 
acquaint  the  commandant  of  Fort  Prince 
George  of  the  threats  of  the  herders  against 
the  Blue  Lick  Stationers,  and  warn  him 
how  he  attempts  to  interfere  with  the  lib 
erties  of  the  king's  loyal  subjects  in  their 
peaceful  vocations." 

Thus  Emsden  gayly  volunteered  for  the 
mission. 

The  next  morning  old  Richard  Mivane, 
thinking  of  it,  shook  his  head  over  the  fire, 
—  and  not  only  once,  but  shook  it  again, 
which  was  a  great  deal  of  trouble  for  him 


40  THE  LINGUISTER 

to  take.  Having  thus  exerted  his  altruistic 
interest  to  the  utmost,  Richard  Mivane  re 
lapsed  into  his  normal  placidity.  He  leaned 
back  in  his  armchair,  the  only  one  at  the 
station,  fingering  his  gold-lined  silver  snuff 
box,  with  its  chain  and  ladle,  his  eyes  dwell 
ing  calmly  on  the  fire,  and  his  thoughts 
busy  with  far  away  and  long  ago. 

He  was  old  enough  now  to  enter  into  the 
past  as  a  sort  of  heritage,  a  promised  land 
which  memory  had  glozed  with  a  glamour 
that  can  never  shine  upon  the  uncertain 
aspects  of  the  future.  The  burning  sense 
of  regret,  the  anguish  of  nostalgia,  the  re- 
linquishment  of  an  .accustomed  sphere,  its 
prospects  and  ideals,  the  revolt  against  the 
uncouth  and  rude  conditions  of  the  new 
status,  the  gradual  reluctant  naturalization 
to  a  new  world,  —  these  were  forgotten  save 
as  the  picturesque  elements  of  sorrow  and 
despair  that  balanced  the  joys,  the  interest, 
the  devil-may-care  joviality,  the  adventure, 
the  strange  wild  companionship,  —  all  that 
made  the  tale  worth  rehearsing  in  the  flare 
and  the  flicker  of  the  fireside  glow. 

The  rains  had  come.  The  dark  slate- 
tinted  clouds  hung  low  over  the  station,  but 


THE  LINGUISTER  41 

every  log  house,  freshly  dight  with  white 
wash  of  the  marly  clay,  after  the  Indian 
method,  still  shone  in  the  shadow  as  if  the 
sun  were  upon  it.  The  turf  was  green,  de 
spite  the  passing  of  many  feet,  and  where 
a  slight  depression  held  water,  a  few  ducks, 
Carolina  bred,  were  quacking  and  paddling 
about ;  now  and  then  these  were  counted 
with  great  interest,  for  they  had  a  trick  of 
taking  to  the  woods  with  others  of  their 
kind,  and  relapsing  to  savagery,  —  truly 
distressing  to  the  domestic  poultry  pros 
pects  of  the  station.  The  doors  of  the  Mi- 
vane  cabin  were  all  ajar,  —  the  one  at  the 
rear  opening  into  a  shed-room,  unfloored, 
which  gave  a  vista  into  more  sheds,  merely 
roofed  spaces,  inclosed  at  either  end.  A 
loom  was  in  the  shed-room,  and  at  it  was 
seated  on  the  bench  in  front,  as  a  lady  sits 
at  an  organ,  the  mistress  of  the  house,  fair 
but  faded,  in  a  cap  and  a  short  gown  and 
red  quilted  petticoat,  giving  some  instruc 
tion,  touching  an  intricate  weave,  to  a  negro 
woman,  neatly  arrayed  in  homespun,  with 
a  gayly  t urban ed  head,  evidently  an  expert 
herself,  from  the  bland  and  smiling  manner 

f  O 

and  many  self-sufficient  and  capable  nods 


42  THE  LINGUISTER 

with  which  she  perceived  and  appropriated 
the  knotty  points  of  the  discourse. 

In  the  outer  shed,  Caesar,  clad  like  the 
Indians  and  the  pioneers  in  buckskin,  was 
mending  the  plough-gear,  and  talking  with 
great  loquacity  to  another  negro,  of  the  type 
known  then  and  later  as  "  the  new  nigger," 
the  target  of  the  plantation  jokes,  because 
of  his  "  greenness,"  being  of  a  fresh  impor 
tation.  He  possibly  remembered  much  of 
Africa,  but  he  accepted  without  demur  and 
with  admiring  and  submissive  meekness 
stories  of  the  great  sights  that  Caesar  pro 
tested  he  had  seen  there,  —  Vauxhall  Gar 
dens  and  Temple  Bar  (which  last  Caesar 
thought  in  his  simplicity  was  a  bar  for  the 
refreshment  of  the  inner  man)  and  a  certain 
resort  indisputably  for  that  purpose  called 
White's  Chocolate  House,  —  all  represented 
as  pleasantly  and  salubriously  situated  in  the 
interior  of  Guinea.  But  after  all,  if  a  story 
is  well  told,  why  carp  at  slight  anacho- 
risms  ? 

Richard  Mivane's  attention  had  been  di 
verted  from  the  thread  of  his  own  reminis 
cences  by  the  fact  that  the  little  flax-wheel 
of  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne  had  ceased  to 


THE  LINGUISTER  43 

whirl,  and  the  low  musical  monody  of  its 
whir  that  was  wont  to  bear  a  pleasant  ac 
companiment  to  the  burden  of  his  thoughts 
was  suddenly  silent.  He  lifted  his  eyes  and 
saw  that  she  was  gazing  dreamily  into  the 
flare  of  the  great  fire,  the  spinning-wheel 
still,  the  end  of  the  thread  motionless  in  her 
hand.  The  burnished  waves  of  her  golden 
brown  hair  were  pushed  a  bit  awry,  and  her 
face  was  so  wan  and  thoughtful  that  even 
her  dress  of  crimson  wool  did  not  lessen 
its  pallor.  The  voices  of  the  three  children 
on  the  floor  grated  on  the  old  man's  mood 
as  they  were  busied  in  defending  a  settler's 
fort,  insecurely  constructed  of  stones  and 
sticks,  and  altogether  roofless,  garrisoned 
by  a  number  of  pebbles,  while  a  poke  full 
of  wily  Indian  kernels  of  corn  swarmed  to 
the  attack. 

"  Why  is  my  pretty  pet  so  idle  ?  "  he 
asked,  for  while  the  wheel  should  whirl  he 
could  dream. 

She  made  no  answer,  only  turned  her 
troubled,  soft  hazel  eyes  upon  him. 

"  And  have  you  seen  a  wolf,  too,  that  you 
have  lost  your  tongue  ?  " 

At    the  word    "  wolf "  she    burst    into 


44  THE  LINGUISTER 

tears.  And  then,  discarding  all  caution  in 
the  breaking  down  of  her  reserve,  she  sprang 
up,  overturning  the  wheel  and  rushing  to 
his  chair. 

Now  Richard  Mivane  had  never  encour 
aged  his  grandchildren  to  clamber  over  his 
chair.  He  protested  great  fear  of  the  sticky 
fingers  of  the  more  youthful  in  contact  with 
his  preternaturally  fine  clothes  ;  he  declared 
they  reminded  him  of  squirrels,  which  he 
detested  ;  he  was  not  sure  they  did  not  look 
like  rats.  All  this  was  of  great  effect ;  for 
his  many  contemptuous  whimsical  prejudices 
were  earnestly  respected. 

For  instance,  whenever  'possum  was  served 
at  the  pioneer  board  they  who  partook  car 
ried  their  plates  for  the  purpose  to  a  side 
table.  "  The  look  of  the  animal's  tail  is 
enough  for  me  —  it  curls,"  he  would  say. 

"  So  does  a  pig's  tail  curl,"  his  son  used 
to  remonstrate  sensibly. 

"  Not  having  kept  a  straight  course  so 
long,  —  then  twirling  up  deceitfully  like  a 
second  thought.  This  fellow  is  a  monstros 
ity,  —  and  his  wife  has  a  pocket  for  a  cradle, 
—  and  I  don't  know  who  they  are  nor  where 
they  came  from,  —  they  were  left  over  from 


THE  LINGUISTER  45 

before  the  Flood,  perhaps,  —  they  look 
somehow  prehistoric  to  me.  I  am  not  ac 
quainted  with  the  family." 

And  turning  his  head  aside  he  would 
wave  away  the  dainty,  the  delight  of  the 
pioneer  epicure  time  out  of  mind. 

The  diplomatic  reason,  however,  that 
Richard  Mivane  was  wont  to  shove  off  his 
grandchildren  from  the  arm  of  that  stately 
chair  was  that  here  they  got  on  his  blind  side, 
—  his  simple,  grandfatherly,  affectionate 
predilection.  The  touch  of  them,  their 
scrambling,  floundering,  little  bodies,  their 
soft  pink  cheeks  laid  against  his,  their 
golden  hair  in  his  clever  eyes,  their  bright 
glances  at  close  range,  —  he  was  then  like 
other  men  and  could  deny  them  nothing ! 
His  selfishness,  his  vanity,  his  idleness,  his 
frippery  were  annulled  in  the  instant.  He 
was  resolved  into  the  simple  constituent  ele 
ments  of  a  grandfather,  one  part  doting 
folly,  one  part  loving  pride,  and  the  rest 
leniency,  and  he  was  as  wax  in  their  hands. 

None  of  them  had  so  definitely  realized 
this,  accurately  discriminating  cause  and 
effect,  as  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne.  She 
felt  safe  the  moment  that  she  was  perched 


46  THE  LINGUISTER 

on  the  arm  of  her  grandfather's  chair,  her 
soft  clasp  about  his  stiff  old  neck,  her  tears 
flowing  over  her  cheeks,  all  pink  anew,  es 
caping  upon  his  wrinkled,  bloodless,  pale 
visage  and  taking  all  the  starch  out  of  his 
old-fashioned  steinkirk.  He  struggled  fu- 
tilely  once  or  twice,  but  she  only  hugged 
him  the  closer. 

"  Oh,  don't  let  him  go  !  Oh,  don't  let 
him  go  !  "  she  cried. 

"  The  wolf  that  we  were  talking  about  ? 
By  no  means  !  Lovely  creature  that  he  is  ! 
We  '11  preserve,  if  you  like,  wolves  instead 
of  pheasants !  •  I  remember  a  gentleman's 
estate  in  Northumberland  —  a  little  beyond 
the  river  "  — 

"  Oh,  grandfather,  don't  let  him  go  !  " 
she  sobbingly  interrupted.  "  It  was  he  who 
shot  the  wolf  and  stampeded  the  herds,  and 
the  cow-drivers  will  quarrel  with  him  when 
they  would  not  have  angry  words  with  an 
other  ambassador.  They  will  kill  him ! 
They  will  kill  him  !  " 

"  What  for  ?  Poaching  ?  —  shooting 
their  wolf?" 

"  Any  one  else  would  be  safe,  grandfa 
ther —  except  poor  Ralph  !  " 


THE  LINGUISTER  47 

"  Go  yourself  then,  May-day  !  " 

66 1  would,  grandfather  !  I  would  not  be 
afraid  !  "  She  put  her  soft  little  hand  on 
his  cheek  to  turn  his  head  to  look  into  her 
confident  eyes. 

"  An  able  and  worshipful  ambassador  !  " 
he  said  banteringly. 

66  Oh,  grandfather,  this  is  no  time  to  risk 
quarrels  among  the  settlers,  and  bloodshed. 
Oh,  the  herders  would  kill  him  !  And  the 
Injuns  aU  so  unfriendly  —  they  might  take 
the  chance  to  get  on  the  war-path  again 
when  the  settlers  are  busy  kiUing  each 
other  —  and  oh,  the  cow-drivers  will  kill 
Kalph  Emsden  !  " 

All  this  persuasion  was  of  necessity  in  a 
distinct  loud  voice ;  unnoticed,  however,  for 
a  crisis  had  supervened  in  the  play  of  the 
children  by  the  chimney-place  settle,  and 
the  sanguinary  struggles  and  scalping  in 
the  storming  of  the  fort  were  blood-curd 
ling  to  behold  to  any  one  with  enough  im 
agination  to  discern  a  full-armed  and  fierce 
savage  in  a  kernel  of  corn,  and  a  stanch 
and  patriotic  Carolinian  in  a  pebble.  But 
when  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne,  all  attuned 
to  this  high  key,  burst  out  weeping  with 


48  THE  LINGUISTER 

commensurate  resonance,  all  the  vocations 
of  the  household  came  to  a  standstill,  and 
her  mother  appeared,  surprised  and  reprov 
ing,  in  the  doorway. 

"  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne,"  she  said 
with  her  peculiar  exact  deliberation  and 
gift  of  circumlocution,  "  it  is  better  to  go 
and  sew  your  sampler  than  to  tease  your 
grandfather." 

"  She  does  not  tease  me  —  I  have  not 
shed  a  tear !  That  was  not  the  sound  of 
my  weeping  !  "  he  declared  facetiously,  one 
arm  protectingly  about  the  little  sobbing 
figure. 

"  He  does  not  like  his  grandchildren  to 
climb  about  him  like  squirrels  and  wild 
cattle,''  the  lady  continued.  Then  irrele 
vantly,  "  Long  stitches  were  always  avoided 
in  our  family.  The  work  you  last  did  in 
your  sampler  has  been  taken  out,  child,  and 
you  can  sew  it  again  and  to  better  advan 
tage." 

"  And  earn  your  name  of  Penelope,"  said 
Richard  Mivane. 

But  he  was  putting  on  his  hat  and  evi 
dently  had  some  effort  in  prospect,  for  how 
could  he  resist,  —  she  looked  so  childish 


THE  LINGUISTER  49 

and  appealing  as  she  sat  before  the  fire, 
weeping  those  large  tears,  and  absently 
preparing  to  sew  her  sampler  anew. 

While  Richard  Mivane,  by  virtue  of  his 
early  culture,  the  scanty  remains  of  his  pro 
perty,  his  fine-gentleman  habits  and  tra 
ditions,  and  the  anomaly  of  his  situation, 
was  the  figure  of  most  mark  at  the  station, 
its  ruling  spirit  was  of  far  alien  character. 
This  was  John  Ronackstone,  a  stanch  In 
dian  fighter ;  a  far-seeing  frontier  politician ; 
a  man  of  excellent  native  faculties,  all 
sharpened  by  active  use  and  frequent  emer 
gencies;  skilled  and  experienced  in  devious 
pioneer  craft;  and  withal  infinitely  stub 
born,  glorying  in  the  fact  of  the  unchange- 
ableness  of  his  opinions  and  his  immutable 
abiding  by  his  first  statements.  After  one 
glance  at  his  square  countenance,  his  steady 
noncommittal  black  eyes,  the  upward  bull 
dog  cant  of  a  somewhat  massive  nose,  the 
firm  compression  of  his  long  thin  lips,  one 
would  no  more  expect  him  to  depart  from 
the  conditions  of  a  conclusion  than  that  a 
signpost  would  enter  into  argument  and  in 
view  of  the  fatigue  of  a  traveler  mitigate 
and  recant  its  announcement. 


50  THE  LINGUISTER 

Nevertheless  Richard  Mivane  expected 
"  some  sense,"  as  he  phrased  it,  from  this 
adamantine  pioneer.  Such  a  man  naturally 
arrogated  and  obtained  great  weight  among 
his  fellows,  and  perhaps  his  lack  of  vacilla 
tion  furthered  this  preeminence.  He  was 
a  good  man  in  the  main  as  well  as  force 
ful,  but  an  early  and  a  very  apt  expression 
of  the  demagogue.  And  as  he  tolerated 
amongst  his  mental  furniture  no  illusions 
and  fostered  no  follies,  his  home  life  har 
bored  no  fripperies.  His  domicile  was  a 
contrast  to  the  better  ordered  homes  of  the 
station,  but  here  one  might  have  meat  and 

'  o 

shelter,  and  what  more  should  mortal  ask 
of  a  house  !  He  often  boasted  that  not  an 
atom  of  iron  entered  into  its  structure  more 
than  into  an  Indian's  wigwam.  Even  the 
clapboards  were  fastened  on  to  the  rafters 
with  wooden  pegs  in  lieu  of  nails,  although 
nails  were  not  difficult  to  procure.  He  had 
that  antagonism  to  the  mere  conventions  of 
civilization  often  manifested  by  those  who 
have  been  irked  by  such  fetters  before 
finally  casting  them  off.  It  was  a  whole 
some  life  and  a  free,  and  if  the  inmates  of 
the  house  did  not  mind  the  scent  of  the 


THE  LINGUISTEB  51 

drying  deerskins  hanging  from  the  beams, 
which  made  the  nose  of  Richard  Mivane 
very  coy,  the  visitor  saw  no  reason  why 
they  should  not  please  themselves.  The 
stone-flagged  hearth  extended  half  across 
the  room,  and  sprawling  upon  it  in  frowsy 
disorder  was  a  bevy  of  children  of  all  ages, 
as  fat  as  pigs  and  as  happy-go-lucky.  He 
had  hardly  seated  himself,  having  stepped 
about  carefully  among  their  chubby  fingers 
and  toes  lest  a  crushing  disaster  supervene, 
than  he  regretted  his  choice  of  a  confidant. 
He  had  his  own  unsuspected  sensitiveness, 
which  was  suddenly  jarred  when  the  wife 
in  the  corner,  rocking  the  cradle  with  one 
foot  while  she  turned  a  hoe-cake  baking  on 
the  hearth  with  a  dextrous  flip  of  a  knife, 
and  feeling  secure  in  his  deafness,  cast  a 
witty  fling  at  his  fastidious  apparel.  With 
that  frequent  yet  unexplained  phenome 
non  of  acoustics,  her  voice  was  so  strung 
that  its  vibrations  reached  his  numb  per 
ceptions  as  duly  as  if  intended  for  his  ears. 
He  made  no  sign,  in  his  pride  and  polite 
ness,  both  indigenous.  But  he  said  to  him 
self,  "  I  don't  laugh  at  her  gown,  —  it  is 
what  she  likes  and  what  she  is  accustomed 


52  THE  LINGUISTER 

to  wear.  And  why  can't  she  let  me  dress 
in  peace  as  I  was  early  trained  to  do?  God 
knows  I  feel  myself  better  than  nobody." 

And  he  was  sensible  of  his  age,  his  in 
firmity,  his  isolation,  and  his  jauntiness 
was  eclipsed. 

Thus  he  entered  the  race  with  a  handi 
cap,  and  John  Ronackstone  would  hear  none 
of  his  reasons  with  grace.  He  could  not 
and  he  would  not  consent  to  the  nomina 
tion  of  an  ambassador  in  the  stead  of  Ems- 
den,  who  had  volunteered  for  the  service, 
which  was  the  more  appropriate  since  it  was 
he  who  had  shot  the  wolf  and  brought  the 
stampede  and  its  attendant  difficulties  upon 
the  herders  of  the  Keowee  River,  and  this 
threat  of  retaliation  upon  the  Blue  Lick 
Stationers.  If  there  were  danger  at  hand, 
let  a  volunteer  encounter  it !  In  vain  Mi- 
vane  argued  that  there  was  danger  to  no 
one  else.  John  Ronackstone,  who  found  an 
added  liberty  of  disputation  in  the  emphasis 
imposed  by  the  necessity  of  roaring  out  his 
immutable  opinions  in  an  exceeding  loud 
voice,  retorted  that  so  far  as  he  was  informed 
the  "  cow-drivers "  on  the  Keowee  were 
not  certain  who  it  was  that  had  committed 


THE  LINGUISTER  53 

this  atrocity,  unless  perhaps  their  messen 
ger  during  his  sojourn  at  Blue  Lick  Sta 
tion  had  learned  the  name  from  "  X."  But 
this  uncertainty,  Mivane  argued,  was  the 
very  point  of  difficulty.  It  was  the  maddest 
folly  to  dispatch  to  angry  men,  smarting 
under  a  grievous  injury,  messages  of  taunt 
and  defiance  by  the  one  person  who  in  their 
opinion,  perhaps,  had  carelessly  or  willfully 
wrought  this  wrong.  His  life  would  pay 
the  forfeit  of  the  folly  of  his  fellow-sta 
tioners. 

Mivane  noted  suddenly  that  the  woman 
rocking  the  cradle  was  laughing  with  an 
ostentatious  affectation  of  covert  slyness, 
and  a  responsive  twinkle  gleamed  in  the 
eyes  of  John  Konackstone.  As  he  caught 
the  grave  and  surprised  glance  of  his  visitor 
he  made  a  point  of  dropping  the  air  of  a 
comment  aside,  which  he,  as  well  as  she,  had 
insistently  brought  to  notice,  and  Mivane 
was  aware  that  here  was  something  which 
sought  an  opportunity  of  being  revealed 
as  if  by  necessity. 

"  Well,  sir,"  Konackstone  began  in  a 
tone  of  a  quasi  -  apology,  "we  were  just 
saying  —  that  is,  I  sez  to  X,  who  was 


54  THE  LINGUISTER 

in  here  a  while  ago,  —  I  sez,  e  I  '11  tell  you 
what  is  goin'  to  happen/  —  I  sez,  '  old 
Gentleman  Rick/  —  excuse  the  freedom, 
sir,  —  '  he  '11  be  wantin'  to  send  somebody 
else  in  Ralph  Emsden's  place.'  X,  he  see 
the  p'int,  just  as  you  see  it.  He  sez,  '  Some 
body  that  won't  be  missed  —  somebody 
not  genteel  enough  to  play  loo  with  him 
after  supper/  sez  X.  <  Or  too  religious/ 
sez  I.  '  Or  can't  sing  a  good  song  or  tell  a 
rousing  tale/  sez  X.  '  Or  listen  an'  laugh 
in  the  right  places  at  the  gentleman's  old 
cracks  about  the  great  world/  sez  I.  '  He  '11 
never  let  Ralph  Emsden  go/  sez  X.  '  Jus' 
some  poor  body  will  do/  sez  I.  '  Jus'  man 
enough  to  be  scalped  by  the  Injuns  if  the 
red  sticks  take  after  him/  sez  X.  '  Or  have 
his  throat  cut  if  the  cow-drivers  feel  rough 
yet/  sez  I.  '  Jus'  such  a  one  ez  me/  sez  X. 
6  Or  me/  sez  I." 

"  Sir,"  said  old  Mivane,  rising,  and  the 
impressive  dignity  of  his  port  was  such  that 
the  cradle  stopped  rocking  as  if  a  spell  were 
upon  it,  and  every  child  paused  in  its  play, 
sprawling  where  it  lay,  "  I  am  obliged  to 
you  for  your  polite  expression  of  opinion 
of  me,  which  I  have  never  done  aught  to 


THE  LINGUISTER  55 

justify.  I  have  nothing  more  to  urge  upon 
the  question  of  the  details  which  brought 
me  hither,  but  of  one  thing  be  certain,  — 
if  Emsden  does  not  go  upon  this  mission  / 
shall  be  the  ambassador.  I  apprehend  no 
danger  whatever  to  myself,  and  I  wish  you 
a  very  good  day." 

And  he  stepped  forth  with  his  wonted 
jaunty  alacrity,  leaving  the  man  and  his  wife 
staring  at  each  other  with  as  much  surprise 
as  if  the  roof  had  fallen  in. 

A  greater  surprise  awaited  Mivane  with 
out.  The  rain  was  falling  anew.  In  vast 
transparent  tissues  it  swept  with  the  gusty 
wind  over  the  nearest  mountains  of  the 
Great  Smoky  Range,  whose  farther  reaches 
were  lost  in  fog.  The  slanting  lines,  vaguely 
discerned  in  the  downpour,  almost  oblit 
erated  the  presence  of  the  encompassing 
forests  about  the  stockade.  He  noted  how 
wildly  the  great  trees  were  yet  swaying,  and 
he  realized,  for  he  could  not  have  heard  the 
blast,  that  a  sudden  severe  wind-storm  had 
passed  over  the  settlement  while  he  was 
within  doors.  The  blockhouse,  the  tallest 
of  the  buildings,  loomed  up  darkly  amidst 
the  gathering  gray  vapor,  and  through  the 


56  THE  LINGUISTER 

great  gates  of  the  stockade,  which  opened 
on  the  blank  cloud,  were  coming  at  the 
moment  several  men  bearing  a  rude  litter, 
evidently  hastily  constructed.  On  this  was 
stretched  the  insensible  form  of  Ralph  Ems- 
den,  who  had  been  stricken  down  in  the 
woods  with  a  dislocated  shoulder  and  a 
broken  arm  by  the  falling  of  a  branch  of  a 
great  tree  uprooted  by  the  violence  of  the 
gusts.  He  had  almost  miraculously  escaped 
being  crushed,  and  was  not  fatally  hurt,  but 
examination  disclosed  that  he  was  absolutely 
and  hopelessly  disabled  for  the  time  being, 
and  Richard  Mi  vane  realized  that  he  him 
self  was  the  duly  accredited  ambassador  to 
the  herders  on  the  Keowee  River. 

He  went  home  in  a  pettish  fume.  No 
sooner  was  he  within  and  the  door  fast  shut, 
that  none  might  behold  save  only  those  of 
his  own  household,  who  were  accustomed 
to  the  aberrations  of  his  temper  and  who 
regarded  them  with  blended  awe  and  re 
spect,  than  he  reft  his  cocked  hat  from  his 
head  and  flung  it  upon  the  floor.  Peninnah 
Penelope  Anne  sprang  up  so  precipitately 
at  the  dread  sight  that  she  overturned  her 
stool  and  drew  a  stitch  awry  in  her  sampler, 


THE  LINGUISTER  57 

longer  than  the  women  of  her  family  were 
accustomed  to  take.  The  children  gazed 
spellbound.  The  weavers  at  the  loom  were 
petrified;  even  the  creak  of  the  treadle 
and  the  noisy  thumping  of  the  batten  — 
those  perennial  sounds  of  a  pioneer  home  — 
sunk  into  silence.  The  two  nesrroes  at  the 

o 

end  of  the  vista  beyond  the  shed-room,  with 
the  ox-yoke  and  plough-gear  which  they 
were  mending  between  them,  opened  wide 
mouths  and  became  immovable  save  for  the 
whites  of  astonished  rolling  eyes.  Then, 
and  this  exceeded  all  precedent,  Eichard 
Mivane  clutched  his  valued  peruke  and,  with 
an  inward  plaintive  deprecation  of  the  ex 
tremity  of  this  act  of  desperation,  he  cast 
it  upon  the  hat,  and  looked  around,  bald, 
despairing,  furious,  and  piteous. 

It  was,  however,  past  the  fortitude  of 
woman  to  behold  without  protest  this  des 
ecration  of  decoration.  Peninnah  Penelope 
Anne  sprang  forward,  snatched  the  glossy 
locks  from  the  puncheons,  and  with  a  ten 
der  hand  righted  the  structure,  while  the 
powder  flew  about  in  light  puffs  at  her 
touch,  readjusting  a  curl  here  and  a  clev 
erly  wrought  wave  there.  The  valet's 


58  THE  LINGUISTER 

pious  aspiration  from  the  doorway,  "  Bress 
de  Lord !  "  betokened  the  acuteness  of  the 
danger  over-past. 

"  Why,  grandfather  !  "  the  girl  admon 
ished  Mivane  ;  "  your  beautiful  peruke  !  — 
sure,  sir,  the  loveliest  curls  in  the  world ! 
And  sets  you  like  your  own  hair,  —  only 
that  nobody  could  really  have  such  very 
genteel  curls  to  grow  —  Oh  —  oh  —  grand 
father  !  " 

She  did  not  offer  to  return  it,  but  stood 
with  it  poised  on  one  hand,  well  out  of 
harm's  way,  while  she  surveyed  Mivane 
reproachfully  yet  with  expectant  sympathy. 

Perhaps  he  himself  was  glad  that  he  could 
wreak  no  further  damage  which  he  would 
later  regret,  and  contented  himself  with 
furiously  pounding  his  cane  upon  the  pun 
cheon  floor,  a  sturdy  structure  and  well  cal 
culated  to  bear  the  brunt  of  such  expressions 
of  pettish  rage. 

"  Dolt,  ass,  fool,  that  I  am  !  "  he  cried. 
"  That  I  should  so  far  forget  myself  as  to 
offer  to  go  as  an  ambassador  to  the  herders 
on  the  Keowee !  '  And  once  more  he 
banged  the  floor  after  a  fashion  that  dis- 

o 

counted  the  thumping  of  the  batten,  and 
the  room  resounded  with  the  thwacks. 


THE  LINGUISTER  59 

An  old  dog,  a  favorite  of  yore,  lying 
asleep  on  the  hearth,  only  opened  his  eyes 
and  wrinkled  his  brows  to  make  sure,  it 
would  seem,  who  had  the  stick ;  then  clos 
ing  his  lids  peacefully  snoozed  away  again, 
presently  snoring  in  the  fullness  of  his  sense 
of  security.  But  a  late  acquisition,  a  gaunt 
deerhound,  after  an  earnest  observation  of 
his  comrade's  attitude,  as  if  referring  the 
crisis  to  his  longer  experience,  scrutinized 
severally  the  faces  of  the  members  of  the 
family,  and,  wincing  at  each  resounding 
whack,  finally  gathered  himself  together 
apprehensively,  as  doubtful  whose  turn 
might  come  next,  and  discreetly  slunk  out 
unobserved  by  the  back  door. 

Peninnah  Penelope  Anne  rushed  to  the 
rescue. 

"  And  why  should  you  not  be  an  ambas 
sador,  sir  ?  "  she  demanded. 

66  Why  —  why  —  because,  girl,  I  am 
deafer  than  the  devil's  dam !  I  cannot  fetch 
and  carry  messages  of  import.  I  could  only 
give,  occasion  for  ridicule  and  scorn  in 
even  offering  to  assume  such  an  office." 

Peninnah  Penelope  Anne  had  flushed 
with  the  keen  sensitiveness  of  her  pride. 


60  THE  LINGUISTER 

She  instantly  appreciated  the  irking  of  the 
dilemma  into  which  he  had  thrust  himself 
forgetting  his  infirmity,  and  she  could  have 
smitten  with  hearty  enmity  and  a  heavy 
stick  any  lips  which  had  dared  to  smile. 
She  responded,  however,  with  something  of 
her  mother's  indirection. 

"  Under  your  favor,  sir,  you  don't  know 
how  deaf  the  devil's  dam  may  be  —  and  it 
is  not  your  wont  to  speak  in  that  strain. 
I  'm  sure  it  reminds  me  of  that  man  they 
call  '  X,'  —  a  sort  of  churl  person,  —  who 
talks  of  the  devil  and  blue  blazes  and  brim 
stone  and  hell  as  if  —  as  if  he  were  a  na- 
tive." 

This  was  a  turning  of  the  sword  of  the 
pious  "  X  "  upon  himself  with  a  vengeance, 
for  he  was  prone  in  his  spiritual  disquisi 
tions  to  detail  much  of  the  discomfort  of 
the  future  state  that  awaited  his  careless 
friends. 

The  allusion  so  far  pleased  old  Mivane, 
who  resented  a  suspected  relegation  of  him 
self  to  a  warm  station  in  the  schemes  of 
"  X,"  that,  although  his  head  was  still  bald 
and  shining  like  a  billiard  ball,  he  suffered 
himself  to  drop  into  his  chair,  his  stick  rest- 


THE  LINGUISTEB  61 

ing  motionless  on  the  long-suffering  pun 
cheon  floor. 

"  If  I  could  only  hear  for  a  day  I  'd  for 
give  twenty  soundless  years  !  "  he  declared 
piteously,  for  he  so  deprecated  the  enforced 
withdrawal  from  the  enterprise  that  he  had 
heedlessly  undertaken,  and  felt  so  keenly 
the  reflections  upon  his  sentiments  and  sin 
cerity  surreptitiously  canvassed  between 
Ronackstone  and  "  X,"  and  then  cavalierly 
rehearsed  in  his  presence. 

"  You  are  only  deaf  to  certain  whanging 
voices  in  queer  keys/'  his  granddaughter 
declared. 

"  And  how  do  I  know  in  what  sort  of 
key  the  herders  on  the  Keowee  talk  ?  They 
may  '  moo '  like  the  cow,  or  '  mew '  like 
the  cat !  I  should  be  in  danger  of  losing 
half  that  was  said.  And  that  is  what  these 
varlets  here  in  the  station  know  right  well. 
It  must  seem  but  a  mere  bit  of  bombast  on 
my  part.  It  could  never  be  seriously  coun 
tenanced  —  unless  I  had  an  interpreter. 
Stop  me !  but  if  you  were  a  grandson 
instead  of  a  granddaughter,  I  would  not 
mind  taking  you  with  me  to  interpret  for 
me,  though,  Gadzooks,  I  'd  be  like  a  heathen 
red  Injun  with  a  linguister !  " 


62  THE  LINGUISTER 

"  And  why  am  I  not  as  good  as  any 
grandson  ?  "  demanded  Pen  inn  ah  Penelope 
Anne,  with  a  spirited  flash  of  her  bright 
hazel  eyes  and  great  temerity  of  specula 
tion  ;  for  be  it  remembered  the  days  of 
the  theories  of  woman's  equality  with  man 
had  not  yet  dawned.  "  Sure,  sir,  I  can 
speak  when  I  am  spoken  to.  I  understand 
the  Engh'sh  language  ;  and  "  —  her  voice 
rising  into  a  liquid  crescendo  of  delight 
—  "I  can  wear  my  gray  sergedusoy  sack 
made  over  my  carnation  taffeta  bodice  and 
cashmere  petticoat,  all  pranked  out  with 
bows  of  black  velvet,  most  genteel,  and  my 
hat  of  quilled  primrose  sarcenet,  grand 
father.  I  'd  take  them  in  a  bundle,  for  if  we 
should  have  rain  I  would  rather  be  in  my 
old  red  hood  and  blue  serge  riding-coat  on 
the  way,  grandfather." 

And  thus  it  was  settled  before  she  had 
fairly  readjusted  the  peruke  on  his  head  as 
he  sat  in  his  great  chair  and  she  clambered 
on  its  arm. 

She  had  not  heard  of  the  disaster  that 
had  befallen  Ralph  Emsden,  and  she  turned 
rather  pale  and  wistful  when  the  news  was 
communicated  to  her.  Then  realizing  how 


THE  LINGUISTEB  63 

opportune  was  the  accident,  how  slight  was 
its  ultimate  danger  in  comparison  with  the 
jeopardy  of  the  mission  from  which  he  was 
rescued,  she  fairly  gloated  upon  the  chance 
which  had  conferred  it  upon  her  grand 
father,  and  made  her  an  instrument  in  its 
execution. 

It  was  a  queerly  assorted  embassy  that 
rode  out  of  the  gates  of  the  stockade,  the 
ambassador  and  his  linffuister.  Richard  Mi- 

o 

vane  was  mounted  upon  a  strong,  sprightly 
horse,  with  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne  behind 
him  upon  a  pillion.  Following  them  at  a 
little  distance  came  his  body-servant,  Caesar, 
more  fitted  by  temperament  than  either  to 
enjoy  the  change,  the  spirit  of  adventure, 
and  reveling  in  a  sense  of  importance  which 
was  scarcely  diminished  by  the  fact  that  it 
was  vicarious.  He  rode  a  sturdy  nag  and 
had  charge  of  a  led  horse,  that  bore  a  pack- 
saddle  with  a  store  of  changes  of  raiment, 
of  edible  provisions,  and  tents  to  fend  off 
the  chances  of  inclement  weather.  They 
were  to  travel  under  the  protection  of 
a  trader's  pack-train,  from  a  reestablished 
trading-house  in  the  Overhill  Towns  of  the 
Cherokees  on  the  Tennessee  River  ;  and  so 


64  THE  LINGUISTER 

accurately  did  they  time  their  departure  and 
the  stages  of  their  journey  that  they  met 
this  caravan  just  at  the  hour  and  place  des 
ignated,  and  risked  naught  from  the  unset 
tled  state  of  the  country  or  an  encounter 
with  some  ignorant  or  inimical  savage, 
prone  to  wreak  upon  inoffensive  units  ven 
geance  for  wrongs,  real  or  fancied,  wrought 
by  a  nation. 

The  trader,  being  a  man  habituated  by 
frequent  sojourns  in  Charlestown  to  me 
tropolitan  customs  and  a  worldly  trend  of 
thought,  instantly  recognized  the  quality 
of  Mi  vane  and  his  granddaughter,  despite 
the  old  red  hood  and  blue  serge  riding-coat 
and  their  residence  here  so  far  from  all  the 
graces  that  appertain  to  civilization  ;  though, 
to  be  sure,  Richard  Mivane,  in  his  trim 
"Joseph,"  his  head  cowled  in  an  appro 
priate  "trotcozy,"  and  his  jaunty  self-pos 
session  quite  restored  by  the  cutting  of  the 
Gordian  knot  of  his  dilemma,  demonstrating 
his  capacity  to  duly  perform  all  his  under 
takings,  bore  himself  in  a  manner  calculated 
to  enhance  even  the  high  estimation  of  his 
fellow-traveler.  After  the  custom  of  a  gen 
tleman,  however,  he  was  most  augustly  free 


THE  LINGUISTER  65 

from  unwarrantable  self-assertion,  but  he 
could  not  have  failed  to  be  flattered  by  the 
phrase  of  the  trader,  could  he  have  heard 
it,  in  delivering  over  his  charge  to  the  herd 
ers  on  the  Keowee  River.  "  Gadzooks, 
neighbors,  but  I  should  n't  be  a  whit  sur 
prised  if  that  old  party  is  a  duke  in  dis 
guise  !  " 

But  the  cow-drivers  heard  him  not !  They 
hardly  heeded  the  coming  and  the  going  of 
the  pack-train  and  their  gossips  the  pack 
men  !  They  cared  naught  for  the  news  the 
caravan  brought  of  the  country-side  far 
above,  nor  the  commissions  they  were  wont 
to  give  for  the  various  settlements  and  the 
metropolis  far  below!  For  so  featly  came 
riding  in  to  the  humble  prosaic  precincts  of 
the  cow-pens  and  into  their  hearts  the  vernal 
beauty  of  Spring  herself,  the  living  Bloom 
of  charm  and  love,  all  arrayed  in  delicate 
gray  sergedusoy  opening  upon  carnation 
taffeta,  and  crowned  with  sheer  quillings  of 
primrose  sarcenet,  with  a  cheek  that  repeated 
these  roseate  tints  and  a  glint  of  golden 
brown  tresses  curling  softly  against  a  nape  of 
pearl,  that  the  ranchmen  were  bewitched  and 
dazed,  and  knew  no  more  of  good  common- 


66  THE  LINGUISTER 

sense.  Their  equilibrium  thus  shaken,  some 
busied  themselves  in  what  might  be  called 
"  housewifely  cares,"  that  the  dainty  vis 
itant  might  be  acceptably  lodged  and  fed, 
and  afterward  they  cursed  their  industry  and 
hospitality  that  thus  left  her  conversation 
and  charming  aspect  to  the  shirks  and 
drones,  who  languished  about  her,  and  af 
fected  to  seek  her  comfort  and  minister  to 
her  entertainment.  For  the  cow-drivers,  like 
the  other  pioneer  settlers  of  that  region  and 
day,  represented  various  states  of  society  and 
degrees  of  refinement,  and  to  those  to  whom 
she  was  not  as  a  blissful  reminiscence  of  long 
ago,  she  appeared  as  a  revelation,  new  and 
straight  from  heaven,  a  fancy,  a  dream  !  It 
seemed  meet  to  them  that  she  arrived  in 
the  illusory  sunset  of  a  sweet  spring  day, 
like  some  lovely  forecast  of  the  visions  of 
the  night. 

With  their  artless  bucolic  ideals  of  enter 
tainment  they  invited  her  out  to  show  her 
the  new  calves.  One  of  these  little  creatures, 
being  exquisitely  white  and  eminently  pleas 
ing  to  look  upon,  was  straightway  named, 
with  her  gracious  permission,  "  Peninnah 
Penelope  Anne,"  and  she  was  assured  that 


THE  LINGUISTER  67 

because  of  this  name  its  owner,  a  slim,  sen 
timental,  red-haired  youth,  would  never  part 
from  it.  And  it  may  be  presumed  that  he 
was  sincere,  and  that  at  the  time  of  this  fer 
vent  asseveration  he  had  not  realized  the 
incongruity  of  living  his  life  out  in  the  con 
stant  heed  of  the  well-being  and  compan 
ionship  of  a  large  white  cow  of  the  name 
of  "  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne."  A  more 
interesting  denizen  of  the  pen  was  a  fawn, 
a  waif  found  there  one  morning,  having 
prudently  adopted  as  a  mother  a  large  red 
cow,  and  a  heavy  brindled  calf  as  a  foster- 
brother.  The  instant  Peninnah  admired  this 
incongruous  estray,  bleating  its  queer  alien 
note  in  resonant  duet  with  the  calf  in  the 
plea  for  supper,  a  cord  was  slipped  about  its 
neck  and  it  was  presented  in  due  form.  In 
order  that  she  might  not  be  harassed  by 
its  tendance,  a  gigantic  Scotch  herder,  six 
feet  six  inches  high  and  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  showed  how  far  involuntary  inanity  can 
coexist  with  presumptive  sanity  as  he  led 
it  about,  the  creature  holding  back  heavily 
at  every  step  and  now  and  again  tangling 
itself,  its  cord,  and  its  disconcerted  bleats 
about  its  conductor's  long  and  stalwart  legs. 


68  THE  LINGUISTER 

Another  of  the  herders,  —  all  of  whom  were 
hunters  and  explorers  as  well,  —  whose  mind 
was  of  a  topographical  cast,  introduced  her 
to  much  fine  and  high  company  in  the  vari 
ous  mountain  peaks,  gathered  in  solemn 
symposium  dark  and  purple  in  the  faintly 
tinted  and  opaline  twilight.  He  repeated 
their  Cherokee  names  and  gave  an  Eng 
lish  translation,  and  called  her  attention  to 
marks  of  difference  in  their  configuration 
which  rendered  them  distinguishable  at  a  dis 
tance;  and  when  she  lent  some  heed  to  this 
and  noted  on  the  horizon  contours  of  the 
mountains  about  her  home,  faint  and  far  in 
an  elusive  amethystine  apotheosis  against 
the  red  and  flaming  west,  and  called  out  her 
glad  recognition  in  a  voice  as  sweet  as  a 
thrush,  his  comrades  waxed  jealous,  and 
contravened  his  statements  and  argued  and 
wrangled  upon  landmarks  to  which  they 
had  never  before  given  a  second  thought 
in  all  their  mountaineering  experience,  so 
keenly  they  competed  for  her  favor.  It  was 
her  little  day  of  triumph,  and  right  royally 
she  reigned  in  it  and  was  wont  to  tell  of  it 
for  forty  years  thereafter  ! 

At  last  the  dusk  was  slipping  down  ;  the 


THE  LINGUISTER  69 

mountains  grew  a  shadowy  gray  far  away 
and  a  looming  black  close  at  hand ;  a  star 
palpitated  in  the  colorless  crystal-clear  con 
cave  of  the  fading  skies  ;  the  vernal  stretch 
of  the  savannas,  whose  intense  green  was 
somehow  asserted  till  the  latest  glimmer  of 
light,  ceased  to  resound  with  the  voices  of 
the  herds  ;  only  here  and  there  a  keen  me 
tallic  note  of  a  bell  clanked  forth  and  was 
silent,  and  again  the  sound  came  from  a 
farther  pen  like  a  belated  echo ;  the  fire 
flaring  out  from  the  open  door  of  the  near 
est  hut  of  the  ranchmen's  little  hamlet  gave 
a  pleasant  sense  of  hospitality  and  homely 
hearth-side  cheer,  for  it  requires  only  a 
few  nights  under  a  tent  or  the  open  canopy 
of  heaven  to  make  a  woman,  always  the 
most  artificially  disposed  of  all  creatures, 
exceedingly  respectful  to  a  roof. 

To  be  sure  the  interior  of  this  roof  was 
well  garnished  with  cobwebs,  and  Peninnah 
Penelope  Anne's  mother  was  so  notable  a 
housekeeper  and  had  inculcated  such  horror 
of  these  untoward  drapings  and  festoons  that 
the  girl  was  compelled  to  look  sedulously 
away  from  them  to  avoid  staring  in  amaze 
ment  at  their  morbid  development  and  pro- 


70  THE  LINGUISTER 

portions.    The  superintendent  of  the  ranch 

—  being  an  establishment  o£  magnitude  it 
had  several  sub-agents  also  —  was  so  occu 
pied  in  putting  the  best  foot  of  his  menage 
foremost,  not  being  prepared  for  such  com 
pany,   that,   like   many   a    modern   house 
keeper,  he  let  the  opportunity  for  pleasure 
slip.    When  he  proffered  tea  —  he  had  sent 
a  negro  servant  all  the  way  to  Fort  Prince 
George   for  the  luxury,  where  it  could  be 
found  among  the  hospital  stores,  for  tea  was 
too  mild  a  tipple  for  the  pioneer  cow-drivers 

—  he  suffered  the  egregious  mortification  of 
pouring  out  plain  hot  water,  having  forgotten 
to  put  in  the  tea  leaves  to  steep.    He  looked 
very  hot  and  ruefully  distressed  as  he  re 
paired  his  error,  and  would  not,  could  not 
meet  the  laughing  eyes  of   his  comrades, 
nor   yet  the  polite  glances  of   his  guests 
resolutely  seeing  naught  amiss.    He  was  op 
pressed  with  a  sense  of  the  number  and  pro 
minence  of  his  dogs  about  the  wide  hearth 
of  his  cabin ;  when  the  animals  were  there 
fore  vigorously  kicked  out  to  make  more 
space,  instead   of   retiring  with  the   usual 
plaintive  yelp  of  protest  appropriate  to  such 
occasions  they  took  advantage  of  the  pre- 


THE  LINGUISTER  71 

sence  of  guests  of  distinction  and  made 
the  rafters  ring"  and  resound  with  their 
ear-splitting  shrieks,  and  it  was  even  neces 
sary  to  chase  them  about  the  room  before 
they  could  be  ejected.  Indeed,  several  with 
super-canine  strategy  succeeded  in  counter 
marching  their  tormentors  and  remained 
in  the  group  about  the  fire,  wearing  that 
curiously  attentive  look  peculiar  to  an  intel 
ligent  animal  when  animated  conversation 
is  in  progress. 

The  blazing  fire  in  the  great  chimney- 
place,  that  stretched  almost  half  across  one 
end  of  the  herder's  cabin,  illumined  the 
walls  and  showed  the  medley  of  articles  sus 
pended  upon  them, —  horns,  whips,  brand 
ing-irons,  skins,  cattle-bells,  lariats,  and  such 
like  appurtenances  of  the  ranch.  The  little 
lady  was  seated  in  the  centre  of  the  group 
of  ranchmen  ranged  in  a  wide  semicircle 
about  the  hearth  of  flagstones;  the  ethereal 
tints  of  her  shimmering  attire  showed  all 
their  high  lights ;  her  face  and  golden  brown 
hair  seemed  particularly  soft  and  delicate 
in  contrast  with  the  rough  tousled  heads  and 
bearded  countenances  about  her ;  here  and 
there  the  muzzle  of  a  great  animal,  the  flash 


72  THE  LINGUISTER 

of  fangs  and  red  glow  of  formidable  jaws, 
were  half  discriminated  amidst  the  alter 
nate  flare  of  the  flames  and  flicker  of  the 
shadows,  —  all  might  have  suggested  the 
"  mystick  Crew  of  Comus "  to  Richard 
Mivane,  being  the  only  person  present  who 
had  ever  heard  of  that  motley  company, 
had  not  his  thoughts  been  otherwise  en 
grossed.  He  meditatively  cleared  his  throat, 
took  a  sip  of  brandy  and  water,  for  he  had 
long  ago  lost  his  genteel  affiliations  with 
tea,  and  hopefully  opened  the  subject  of  his 
mission. 

A  change  fell  upon  the  scene,  instant, 
definite,  complete.  In  the  mere  broaching 
of  business  it  might  seem  that  beauty  and 
charm  are  but  tenuous  at  best,  and  power 
less  to  subdue  the  fiercer  nature  of  man 
when  his  acquisitive  and  aggressive  com 
mercial  instincts  are  aroused.  One  of  the 
most  devout  admirers  of  Peninnah  Penel 
ope  Anne  tossed  his  head  with  a  very  belli 
cose  and  bovine  obduracy  when  he  intimated 
an  incredulity  of  the  statement  that  the 
herd  had  been  stampeded  without  an  ulterior 
motive  of  malice  or  nefarious  profit.  The 
gentle  soul  who  had  assumed  the  tendance 


THE  LINGUISTER  73 

and  protection  of  the  fawn  held  down  as 
he  listened  a  shaggy  intent  head,  like  that 
of  a  bull  about  to  charge,  at  the  mere  men 
tion  of  the  shooting  of  the  wolf.  In  fact, 
the  suggestion  of  shadowy  monsters  which 
the  dusky  flicker  and  evanescent  flare  of  the 
fire  fostered  and  which  was  intensified  by 
the  proximity  of  open  jaws,  sharp  fangs, 
heavy  muzzles,  and  standing  bristles  amongst 
them,  owed  much  of  its  effect  to  the  unani 
mous  expression  of  truculent  challenge  and 
averse  disfavor.  There  were  frequent  con 
firmatory  emphatic  nods  of  great  disheveled 
heads,  the  scarlet  flushing  of  angry  faces, 
already  florid,  and  now  and  again  a  violent 
descriptive  gesture  of  a  long  brawny  arm 
with  a  clenched  fist  at  its  extremity.  Richard 
Mivane's  well-rounded  periods  and  gentle 
manly  phrasings  were  like  the  educated 
thrusts  and  feints  of  an  expert  fencer  who 
opposes  his  single  rapier  to  the  bludgeons 
and  missiles  of  a  furious  mob.  He  saw  in 
less  than  five  minutes  that  the  scheme  of 
extenuation  and  conciliation  was  futile,  that 
retort  and  retaliation  would  be  returned  in 
kind,  that  the  stoppage  of  the  pack-train 
from  Blue  Lick  on  the  way  to  Charlestown 


74  THE  LINGUISTER 

was  inevitable,  and  that  the  redcoats,  in 
voked  by  both  parties,  would  doubtless  be 
come  embroiled  with  one  or  the  other,  —  in 
short,  bloodshed  was  a  foregone  conclusion. 

Much  as  this  was  to  be  deprecated  in  any 
event,  it  was  suicidal  amongst  these  infant 
settlements  by  reason  of  the  vicinage  and 
antagonism  of  the  fierce  and  only  half-sub 
dued  Cherokees,  sullenly  nourishing  schemes 
of  revenge  for  their  recent  defeat  and  many 
woes.  But  when  he  urged  this  upon  the  at 
tention  of  the  herders,  the  retort  came  quick 
and  pointed :  "  We  ain't  talkin'  'bout  no 
Injuns  !  —  the  Cherokees  never  meddled 
with  our  cattle  !  We  '11  settle  about  the 
stampede  first,  an'  'tend  to  the  Cherokees 
in  good  time  —  all  in  good  time  !  " 

Richard  Mi  vane  was  not  possessed  of 
much  affinity  with  the  ruder  primitive  qual 
ities,  the  stalwart  candor  and  uncultured 
forces  of  the  natural  man  ;  and  never  had 
these  inherent  elements  appeared  to  less 
advantage  in  his  mind  than  when  he  was 
brought  into  disastrous  conflict  with  them. 
He  only  held  his  ground  for  form's  sake, 
and  often  his  voice  was  overborne  by  the 
clamors  of  many  responsive  tones,  all  blar- 


THE  LINGUISTER  75 

ing  and  arguing  together.  Much  that  was 
said  he  could  not  hear,  and  refrained  from 
speaking  when  he  perceived  from  the  loud 
contending  faces  that  he  was  denied  for  the 
nonce  a  rejoinder.  But  ever  and  anon  the 
silver  vibrations  of  the  little  linguister's 
voice  rose  into  the  big  bass  tumult  as  she 
rehearsed  what  had  been  said  for  her  grand 
father's  benefit,  and  the  angry  rush  of  sound 
stopped  with  an  abrupt  recoil  for  a  moment, 
then  surged  on  as  before. 

She  looked  very  mild  and  petite  among 
them,  q.uite  like  a  sedate  child,  her  cheeks 
pinker  than  any  of  the  rose  tints  of  her 
apparel  that  were  her  pride,  her  lips  red 
and  breathlessly  parted,  her  eyes  bright  and 
very  watchful,  her  golden  brown  hair  all 
red  gold  in  the  flicker  of  the  fire.  There 
was  one  wild  taunting  threat  that  she  did 
not  repeat,  as  if  she  thought  it  of  no  con 
sequence,  —  the  threat  of  personal  violence 
against  Ralph  Emsden.  They  had  found 
out  his  name  patly  enough  from  their  own 
messenger  to  Blue  Lick  Station.  They 
would  take  out  their  grudge  against  him 
on  his  hide,  they  averred,  —  if  they  had  to 
go  all  the  way  to  Blue  Lick  to  get  it ! 


76  THE  LINGUISTER 

Now  and  again  they  sufficiently  remem 
bered  that  indeterminate  quantum  of  cour 
tesy  which  they  called  their  "  manners " 
to  interpolate  "  No  offense  to  you,  sir,"  or 
"  Begging  the  lady's  pardon."  Throughout 
she  preserved  a  cool,  almost  uncomprehend 
ing,  passive  manner  ;  and  it  was  in  one  of 
the  moments  of  a  heady  tumult  of  words, 
in  which  they  sometimes  involved  them 
selves  beyond  ah1  interpretation  or  distin- 
guishment,  that  she  observed  with  a  sort  of 
childish  inconsequence  that  they  could  get 
Kalph  Emsden  easily  enough  if  they  would 
go  to  Blue  Lick  Station,  —  he  was  there  now, 
and  his  arm  and  shoulder  were  so  hurt  that 
he  would  not  be  able  to  make  off,  —  they 
could  get  him  easily  enough,  that  is,  if  the 
French  did  not  raze  Blue  Lick  Station  be 
fore  the  herders  could  reach  there. 

If  a  bomb  had  exploded  in  the  midst  of 
the  hearthstone,  the  astonishment  that  en 
sued  upon  this  simple  statement  could  not 
have  been  greater.  A  sudden  blank  silence 
supervened.  A  dozen  excited  infuriated 
faces,  the  angry  contortions  of  the  previous 
moment  still  stark  upon  their  features,  were 
bent  upon  her  while  their  eyes  stared  only 
limitless  amazement. 


THE  LINGUISTER  77 

"  The  French  !  "  the  herders  cried  at  last 
in  chorus.  "  Blue  Lick  Station  !  " 

"  It  was  razed  once/'  she  said  statisti 
cally,  "  to  the  ground.  The  Cherokees  did 
it  that  time !  " 

Her  grandfather,  always  averse  to  admit 
that  he  did  not  hear,  noted  the  influx  of 
excitement,  and  was  fain  to  lean  forward. 
He  even  placed  his  hand  behind  his  ear. 

"  The  French  !  "  bellowed  out  one  of  the 
cow-drivers  in  a  voice  that  might  have  graced 
the  king  of  the  herds.  "  The  French ! 
Threatening  Blue  Lick  Station  !  " 

The  elderly  gentleman  drew  back  from 
the  painful  surcharged  vibrations  of  sound 
arid  the  unseemly  aspect  of  this  interpreter, 
who  was  in  good  sooth  like  a  bull  in  disguise. 
"  To  be  sure  —  the  French,"  Richard  Mi- 
vane  said  in  response,  repeating  the  only 
words  which  he  had  heard.  "  Our  nearest 
white  neighbors  — -  the  dangerous  Alabama 
garrison  !  " 

A  tumult  of  questions  assailed  the  little 
linguister. 

"  Be  they  mightily  troubled  at  Blue  Lick 
Station  ?  "  asked  one  sympathetically. 

The  little  flower-like  head  was  nodded 


78  THE  LINGUISTER 

with  meaning,  deep  and  serious.  "  Ob, 
sure  !  "  she  cried.  "  And  having  the  Cow- 
pens  against  them  too  —  't  is  sad  !  " 

"  Zooks  !  "  cried  the  bull  in  disguise,  with 
a  snort.  "  The  Cow-pens  ain't  against  'em 
—  when  the  French  are  coming  !  " 

"Why  have  n't  they  sent  word  to  the 
soldiers?"  demanded  another  of  the  cow- 
drivers  suspiciously. 

"The  soldiers?"  she  exclaimed  incredu 
lously.  "  Why  —  the  Cow-pens  sent  word 
that  the  soldiers  were  against  Blue  Lick 
too,  and  were  going  to  stop  the  station's 
pack-train.  Maybe  the  stationers  were  afraid 
of  the  soldiers." 

To  a  torrent  of  questions  as  to  how  the 
news  had  first  come,  how  the  menace  low 
ered,  what  disposition  for  defense  the  sta 
tioners  could  make,  the  little  girl  seemed 
bewildered.  She  only  answered  definitely 
and  very  indifferently  that  they  could  easily 
get  Kalph  Emsden  if  they  would  go  now  to 
Blue  Lick,  and  take  his  hide,  —  that  is,  if 
the  French  and  their  Choctaw  Indians  had 
not  already  possessed  themselves  of  that  val 
uable  integument,  —  as  if  this  were  their 
primal  object. 


THE  LINGUISTER  79 

"  Why,  God-a-mercy,  child,"  cried  the 
superintendent  of  the  ranch,  "  this  news  set 
tles  all  scores  ;  when  it  comes  to  a  foreign 
foe  the  colonists  are  brothers." 

"  And  besides/'  admitted  one  of  the  most 
truculent  of  the  cow-drivers,  "  the  cattle  are 
all  pretty  well  rounded  in  again ;  I  doubt 
if  more  are  lost  than  the  wolves  would  have 
pulled  down  anyhow." 

"  And  the  Blue  Lick  Stationers'  horses 
can  be  herded  easy  enough,  —  they  are  all 
on  their  old  grass,  —  and  be  driven  up  to 
the  settlement." 

A  courier  had  been  sent  off  full  tilt  to 
the  commandant  at  Fort  Prince  George,  and 
night  though  it  was,  a  detail  of  mounted  sol 
diers  appeared  presently  with  orders  to  es 
cort  the  ambassador  and  his  linguister  into 
the  presence  of  that  officer. 

For  this  intelligence  was  esteemed  serious 
indeed.  Although  hostilities  had  now  prac 
tically  ceased  in  America,  the  Seven  Years' 
War  being  near  its  end,  and  peace  negotia 
tions  actually  in  progress,  still  the  treaty  had 
not  been  concluded.  So  far  on  the  fron 
tier  were  such  isolated  garrisons  as  this  of 
Fort  Prince  George,  so  imperfect  and  in- 


80  THE  LINGUISTER 

frequent  were  their  means  of  communicat 
ing  with  the  outside  world,  that  they  were 
necessarily  in  ignorance  of  much  that  took 
place  elsewhere,  and  a  renewal  of  the  conflict 
might  have  supervened  long  before  their 
regular  advices  from  headquarters  could 
reach  them.  Even  a  chance  rumor  might 
bring  them  their  first  intimation  of  a  matter 

o 

of  such  great  import  to  them.  Therefore  the 
commandant  attached  much  significance  to 
this  account  of  an  alarm  at  Blue  Lick  Sta 
tion,  because  of  a  menace  from  the  nearest 
French  at  Fort  Toulouse,  often  called  in  that 
day,  by  reason  of  this  propinquity,  "  the 
dangerous  Alabama  garrison." 

For  this  reason,  also,  the  hospitable  hosts 
made  no  protest  against  the  removal  of  the 
guests  to  Fort  Prince  George,  although 
it  might  seem  that  the  age  of  the  one 
and  the  tender  youth  of  the  other  ill 
fitted  them  to  encounter  this  sudden  transi 
tion  from  the  cosy  fireside  to  the  raw  vernal 
air  on  a  misty  midnight  jaunt  of  a  dozen 
miles  through  a  primeval  wilderness.  And 
in  truth  the  little  lady  seemed  loath  to  leave 
the  hearth ;  she  visibly  hesitated  as  she 
stood  beside  her  chair  with  her  hand  on  its 


THE  LINGUISTER  81 

back,  and  looked  out  at  the  black  night,  and 
the  vague  vista  which  the  ruddy  flare,  from 
the  wide  door,  revealed  amidst  the  dense 
darkness ;  at  the  vanishing  point  of  this  per 
spective  stood  a  group  of  mounted  soldiers, 
"  in  column  of  twos  "  with  two  led  horses, 
the  scarlet  uniforms  and  burnished  accoutre 
ments  appearing  and  disappearing  elusively 
as  the  flames  rose  and  fell.  The  sounds  of 
the  champing  of  bits  and  the  pawing  of 
hoofs  and  the  jingle  of  spurs  were  keenly 
clear  on  the  chill  rare  air  and  seemed  some 
how  consonant  with  the  frosty  glitter  of 
the  stars,  very  high  in  the  black  concave 
of  the  moonless  sky.  The  smell  of  the  rich 
mould,  permeated  with  its  vernal  growths ; 
the  cool,  distinct,  rarefied  perfume  of  some 
early  flower  already  abloom ;  the  antiphonal 
chant  of  frogs  roused  in  the  marsh  or  stream 
hard  by,  so  imbued  her  senses  with  the  reali 
zation  of  the  hour  and  season  that  she  never 
afterward  thought  of  the  spring  without  a 
vivid  renewal  of  these  impressions. 

Her  grandfather  also  seemed  vaguely  to 
hold  back,  even  while  he  slowly  mounted 
his  horse ;  yet  aware  that  naught  is  so  im 
perative  as  military  authority,  it  was  only 


82  THE  LINGUISTER 

his  inner  consciousness  that  protested.  Out 
wardly  he  professed  alacrity,  although  in 
great  surprise  declaring  that  he  could  not 
imagine  what  the  commandant  could  want 
with  him.  The  little  linguister,  for  her  part, 
had  no  doubts.  She  was  well  aware  indeed 
of  the  cause  of  the  summons,  and  so  dis 
mayed  by  the  prospect  was  even  her  doughty 
heart  that  the  swift  ride  through  the  black 
forest  was  less  terrible  to  her  than  the 
thought  of  the  ordeal  of  the  arrival.  But 
the  march  was  not  without  its  peculiar  trials. 
She  shrank  in  instinctive  affright  from  the 
unaccustomed  escort  of  a  dragoon  on  either 
side  of  her,  looming  up  in  the  darkness  like 
some  phantom  of  the  midnight.  Even  her 
volition  seemed  wrested  from  her  by  reason 
of  the  military  training  of  the  troop-horse 
which  she  rode ;  —  he  whirled  about  at  the 
command  "  right- wheel ! "  ringing  out  in  the 
darkness  in  the  crisp  peremptory  tones  of 
the  non-commissioned  officer,  and  plunged 
forward  at  the  words  "trot,  march  ! "  and  ad 
justed  his  muscles  instantaneously  to  the  ac 
celeration  implied  in  "  gallop !  "  and  came  to 
an  abrupt  and  immovable  pause  at  "  halt !  " 
—  all  with  no  more  regard  to  her  grasp  on 


THE  LINGUISTER  83 

the  reins  than  if  she  had  been  a  fly  on  the 
saddle.  As  they  went  the  wind  beset  her 
with  cool,  damp  buffets  on  chin  and  cheek ; 
the  overhanging  budding  boughs,  all  un 
seen,  drenched  her  with  perfumed  dew  as  she 
was  whisked  through  their  midst ;  the  pace 
was  adopted  rather  with  reference  to  military 
custom  and  the  expectation  of  the  waiting 
commandant  than  her  convenience  ;  at  every 
sudden  whirl  responsive  to  the  word  of  com 
mand  she  was  in  momentary  fear  of  being 
flung  beneath  the  swiftly  trampling  hoofs 
of  the  horses  on  either  side  of  her,  and  de 
spite  her  recoil  from  the  bigness  and  bluff- 
ness  and  presumable  bloody-mindedness  of 
the  two  troopers  beside  her  she  was  sensible 
of  their  sympathy  as  they  took  heed  of  the 
instability  with  which  she  bounced  about, 
perched  up  side-wise  on  a  military  saddle. 
Indeed,  one  was  moved  to  ask  her  if  she 
would  not  prefer  to  be  strapped  on  with  a 
girth,  and  to  offer  his  belt  for  the  purpose  ; 
and  the  other  took  the  opportunity  to  gird 
at  the  forgetfulness  of  the  cow-drivers  to 
furnish  her  with  her  own  pillion. 

Nevertheless  she  dreaded  the  journey's 
end ;  and  as  they  came  out  of  the  forests 


84  THE  LINGUISTER 

on  the  banks  of  the  Keowee  Kiver,  and 
beheld  the  vague  glimmers  of  the  gray  day 
slowly  dawning,  albeit  night  was  yet  in  the 
woods,  and  the  outline  of  the  military  works 
of  Fort  Prince  George  taking  symmetry 
and  wonted  proportions  against  the  dap 
pled  eastern  sky,  all  of  blended  roseate 
tints  and  thin  nebulous  grays,  her  heart  so 
sank,  she  felt  so  tremulously  guilty  that 
had  all  the  sixteen  guns  from  the  four  bas 
tions  opened  fire  upon  her  at  once  she 
would  not  have  been  surprised. 

No  such  welcome,  however,  did  the  party 
encounter.      The    officer    commanding    it 

o 

stopped  the  ambassador  and  the  linguister 
and  let  the  soldiers  go  on  at  a  round  trot 
toward  the  great  gate,  which  stood  open, 
the  bayonet  on  the  musket  of  the  sentry 
shining  with  an  errant  gleam  of  light  like 
the  sword  of  fire  at  the  entrance  of  Paradise. 
For  now  the  sun  was  up,  the  radiance  suffus 
ing  the  blue  and  misty  mountains  and  the 
seas  of  fog  in  the  valleys.  Albeit  its  dazzling 
focus  was  hardly  visible  above  the  eastern 
heights,  it  sent  a  red  glow  all  along  the 
parapet  of  the  covered  way  and  the  slope 
beyond  to  the  river  bank,  where  only  two 


THE  LINGUISTER  85 

years  before  Captain  Coytmore,  then  the 
commandant,  had  been  murdered  at  a  con 
ference  by  the  treacherous  Cherokees.  The 
senior  officer,  Captain  Howard,  being  ab 
sent  on  leave,  the  present  commandant,  a 
jaunty  lieutenant,  smart  enough  although 
in  an  undress  uniform,  was  standing  at  the 
sally-port  now,  all  bland  and  smiling,  to 
receive  the  ambassador  and  his  linguister. 
He  perceived  at  once  that  the  old  gentleman 
was  deaf  beyond  any  save  adroit  and  accus 
tomed  communication.  He  looked  puzzled 
for  a  moment,  then  spoke  to  the  sergeant. 

"  And  who  is  this  pretty  little  girl  ?  "  he 
asked. 

The  sergeant,  who  had  heard  of  her 
prowess  in  the  havoc  of  hearts  among  the 
herders  at  the  ranch,  looked  bewildered, 
then  desperate,  saluted  mechanically,  and 
was  circumspectly  silent. 

"  I  am  not  a  little  girl,"  said  Peninnah 
Penelope  Anne  Mi  vane  with  adult  dignity. 

"  Ah,  indeed,"  said  the  embarrassed  and 
discomfited  officer.  Then,  turning  to  lead 
the  way,  he  added  civilly,  "  Beg  pardon, 
I  'm  sure  !  " 

If  the  sight  of  the  sixteen  guns  on  the 


86  THE  LINGUISTER 

four  bastions  of  Fort  Prince  George  had 
caused  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne  to  shrink 
from  her  normal  proportions,  not  too  ex 
pansive  at  best,  she  dwindled  visibly  and 
continually  when  conducted  within  the  pal 
isaded  parapets,  across  the  parade,  past  the 
barracks,  built  for  a  hundred  men  but  now 
somewhat  lacking  their  complement,  and 
into  the  officers'  quarters,  where  in  a  large 
mess-hall  there  sat  all  the  commissioned  offi 
cers  at  a  table,  near  the  foot  of  which  the  two 
strangers  were  accommodated  with  chairs. 
It  had  so  much  the  air  of  a  court-martial, 
despite  their  bland  and  reassuring  suavity, 
that  Peninnah  Penelope  Anne,  albeit  a  free 
lance  and  serving  under  no  banner  but  her 
own  whim,  had  much  ado  to  keep  up  her 
courage  to  face  them.  Naturally  she  was 
disposed  to  lean  upon  her  grandfather,  but 
he  utterly  failed  her.  She  had  never  known 
him  so  deaf  !  He  could  neither  hear  the 
officers  nor  her  familiar  voice.  He  would 
not  even  tell  his  name,  although  she  had  so 
often  heard  him  voice  it  sonorously  and  in 
great  pride,  "  Richard  Mivane  Huntley  Mi- 
vane,  youngest  son  of  the  late  Sir  Alexan 
der  Mivane  Huntley  Mivane,  of  Mivane 


THE  LINGUISTER  87 

Hall,  Fenshire,  Northumberland."  Now  he 
merely  waved  his  hand  to  deputize  her. 
In  truth  he  shrank  from  rehearsing  to  these 
young  men  the  reason  of  his  flight  from 
home,  his  duel  and  its  fatal  result,  although 
his  pride  forbade  him  to  suppress  it.  He 
had  come  to  think  the  cause  of  quarrel 
a  trifle,  and  the  challenge  a  wicked  folly. 
It  was  a  bitter  and  remorseful  recollection 
as  his  age  came  on,  and  its  details  were 
edifying  in  no  sense.  Hence,  as  Peninnah 
Penelope  Anne  knew  naught  of  the  story 
she  could  not  tell  it,  and  he  escaped  the 
distasteful  pose  of  a  merciless  duelist. 

She  gave  his  name  with  much  pride,  not 
ing  the  respect  with  which  the  officers  heard 
it.  She  accounted  for  the  incongruities  of 
his  presence  here  as  the  result  of  a  trip 
from  England  to  the  province,  where,  as  she 
said,  "  he  was  detained  by  the  snare  of 
matrimony."  It  was  his  own  phrase,  for  as 
a  snare  he  regarded  the  holy  estate  ;  but  the 
younger  of  the  officers  were  pleased  to  find 
it  funny,  and  ventured  to  laugh  ;  whereat 
she  grew  red  and  silent,  and  they  perforce 
became  grave  again  that  they  might  hear 
of  the  French.  Here  she  was  vague  and  dis- 


88  THE  LINGUISTER 

cursive,  and  prone  to  detail  at  great  length 
the  feud  between  the  Blue  Lick  Station 
ers  and  the  "  cow-drivers  "  on  the  Keowee, 
evidently  hoping  that  it  might  lie  within 
the  latitude  of  the  commandant's  military 
authority  to  take  some  order  with  the  herder 
gentry,  —  for  which  they  would  not  have 
thanked  her  in  the  least !  But  the  officers 
of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Prince  George  had 
thought  for  naught  but  the  French,  and 
now  and  again  conferred  dubiously  together 
on  the  unsatisfactory  points  of  her  evi 
dence. 

"  Do  you  suppose  she  really  knows  any 
thing  about  it  ?  "  the  commandant  said  aside 
to  one  of  his  advisers. 

Suddenly,  however,  her  grandfather's 
hearing  improved,  and  they  were  able  to 
elicit  from  him  the  reports  which  he  had 
had  at  second  hand  from  the  cow-drivers 
themselves,  in  retailing  which  he  honestly 
conceived  that  he  was  repeating  genuine 
news,  never  dreaming  that  the  information 
had  blossomed  forth  from  his  own  mission. 

While  less  circumstantial  and  satisfactory 
than  the  commandant  could  have  wished, 
the  details  were  too  significant  and  serious 


THE  LINGUISTER  89 

of  import  to  be  ignored,  and  therefore  he 
acted  upon  his  information  as  far  as  it  was 
developed. 

He  ordered  out  a  scouting  party  of  ten 
men,  and,  that  he  might  utilize  Blue  Lick 
Station  as  an  outpost  in  some  sort  where 
they  might  find  refuge  and  aid,  he  dispatched 
to  the  settlement  a  present  of  gunpowder 
to  serve  in  the  defense  of  the  station,  in  case 
of  attack  by  the  French,  and  two  of  the 
small  coehorns  of  that  day,  each  of  which 
could  be  carried  between  two  men,  to  assist 
the  little  piece  already  at  the  station.  In 
return  for  the  prospective  courtesy  and  shel 
ter  to  his  troops,  he  wrote  a  very  polite  letter 
urging  the  settlers  to  hold  out  if  practicable, 
relying  on  his  succor  with  men,  ammunition, 
and  provisions ;  but  if  compelled  to  give 
way,  assuring  the  stationers  of  a  welcome 
at  Fort  Prince  George. 

The  herders  at  the  cow-pens  on  the  Keo- 
wee  had  also  determined  to  reinforce  Blue 
Lick  Station,  and  with  a  number  of  the  run 
away  horses  of  the  settlers,  rounded  up  and 
driven  in  strings,  several  of  them  set  forth 
with  the  British  soldiers  from  the  fort.  In 
this  company  Richard  Mivane  and  his  grand- 


90  THE  LINGUISTER 

daughter  also  took  their  way  to  Blue  Lick 
Station  in  lieu  of  waiting  for  a  pack-train 
with  provisions  from  Charlestown,  as  they 
had  anticipated. 

It  was  a  merry  camping  party  as  they 
fared  along  through  the  wilderness,  and  she 
had  occasion  to  make  many  sage  observa 
tions  on  the  inconsistency  and  the  unwisdom 
of  man  !  That  the  prospect  of  killing  some 
Frenchman,  or  being  themselves  cruelly 
killed,  in  a  national  quarrel  which  neither 
faction,  the  cow-drivers  nor  the  Blue  Lick 
Stationers,  half  understood,  should  so  en 
dear  men  to  each  other  was  a  sentiment  into 
which  she  could  not  enter.  It  was  better, 
after  all,  to  be  a  woman,  she  said  to  herself, 
and  sit  soberly  at  home  and  sew  the  rational 
sampler,  and  let  the  world  wag  on  as  it 
would  and  the  cutthroats  work  their  wild 
will  on  each  other.  The  least  suggestion 
that  brought  the  thought  of  the  French  to 
their  minds  was  received  with  eyes  alight, 
and  nerves  aquiver,  and  blood  all  in  a  rush. 
The  favorite  of  the  whole  camp  was  a  young 
fellow  who  had  achieved  that  enviable  sta 
tion  by  virtue  of  an  inane  yet  inconceivably 
droll  intonation  of  the  phrase,  "  Bong 


THE  LINGUISTER  91 

chure  "  (Bon  jour\  delivered  at  all  man 
ner  of  unconformable  times  and  in  inappro 
priate  connections,  and  invariably  greeted 
with  shouts  of  laughter.  And  when  at  last 
the  party  reached  the  vicinity  of  Blue  Lick 
and  the  stationers  swarmed  out  to  meet 
them,  taking  the  news  of  the  French  inva 
sion  at  second  hand,  each  repeating  it  to 
the  other,  and  variously  recounting  it  back 
again,  never  dreaming  that  it  was  supposed 
to  have  originally  issued  from  the  station, 
she  meditated  much  upon  this  temperamen 
tal  savagery  in  man,  and  the  difficulty  it 
occasioned  in  conforming  him  to  those  sa 
gacious  schemes  for  his  benefit  which  she 
nourished  in  her  inventive  little  pate.  The 
antagonisms  of  the  Blue  Lick  Stationers  and 
the  cow-drivers  from  the  Keowee  vanished 
like  mist.  On  the  one  hand  the  stationers 
were  assured  that  the  stampede  of  the  cattle 
was  now  regarded  as  inadvertent,  and  al 
though  it  had  occasioned  an  immense  deal 
of  vexatious  trouble  to  the  ranchmen,  all 
were  now  well  rounded  up  and  restored  to 
the  cow-pens  as  of  yore.  And  the  ranch 
men  in  turn  received  a  thousand  thanks  for 
their  neighborly  kindness  in  the  restoration 


92  THE  LINGUISTER 

of  the  horses  of  the  Blue  Lick  Stationers, 
who  knew  that  the  animals  had  not  been 
decoyed  off  by  the  herders,  as  a  malicious 
report  sought  to  represent,  but  had  merely 
returned  to  their  "  old  grass,"  according  to 
their  homing  propensities.  And  both  par 
ties  loved  the  British  soldiers,  who  had  re 
inforced  them,  and  intended  to  go  a-scout- 
ing  with  the  military  expedition  ;  and  the 
soldiers  earnestly  reciprocated  by  assisting 
in  the  preparations  for  the  defense  of  the 
station.  Especially  active  and  efficient  was 
the  only  artilleryman  among  them,  and  the 
paradisaic  peace  amidst  all  the  preparations 
for  war  was  so  complete  that  his  acrid  scorn 
of  that  pride  of  the  settlement,  the  little 
swivel  gun,  and  of  the  stationers'  methods 
of  handling  it,  occasioned  not  even  a  mur 
mur  of  resentment. 

Peninnah  Penelope  Anne,  although  re 
stored  to  private  life  and  the  maternal  do 
micile,  having  retired  from  statecraft  and 
the  functions  of  linguister  to  the  embassy, 
did  not  altogether  escape  public  utility  in 
these  bellicose  preparations.  The  young 
gunner,  who  had  had  the  opportunity  of 
observing  her  during  the  march  hither, 


THE  LINGUISTER  93 

shortly  applied  to  her  for  assistance  in  his 
professional  devoir.  He  wanted  a  deft- 
handed  young  person  to  construct  the  car 
tridge-bags  for  the  ammunition  which  he 
was  fixing  for  the  little  piece  and  the  two 
coehorns.  And  thus  it  chanced  that  she 
found  herself  in  the  blockhouse,  cheek  by 
jowl  with  the  little  cannon,  its  grisly  muzzle 
now  looking  out  of  the  embrasure  where 
she  herself  had  once  been  fond  of  taking 
observations  of  the  stockade  entrance  ;  the 
men  came  and  went  and  speculated  upon  the 
chances  of  the  scouting  quest,  now  about 
to  set  forth,  while  spurs  clanking,  ramrods 
rattling  down  into  gun-barrels,  voices  lifted 
in  argument  or  joyous  resonance,  made  the 
whitewashed  walls  ring  anew.  The  gunner, 
seated  at  a  table  carefully  and  accurately 
measuring  out  the  powder,  now  and  again 
urged  strict  cautions  against  the  lighting  of 
pipes  or  striking  of  sparks  from  gun-flints. 
When  he  applied  himself  briskly  to  the  cut 
ting  out  of  more  bags  from  flannel  for  his 
cartridges,  he  looked  very  harmless  and  do 
mestic  in  his  solicitude  to  follow  his  wooden 
pattern,  or  "  pathron  "as  he  called  it,  for 
the  creature  was  Irish,  He  gave  minute 


94  THE  LINGUISTER 

and  scrupulous  directions  to  Peninnah  Pe 
nelope  Anne  to  sew  the  cylinder  with  no 
more  than  twelve  stitches  to  the  inch,  and 
to  baste  down  the  seams,  "  now,  moind  ye 
that !  —  ivery  wan  !  —  that  no  powther 
might  slip  through  beyant !  " 

In  the  pride  of  the  expert  he  was  chary 
of  commendation  and  eyed  critically  the 
circular  bottom  of  every  bag  before  he  filled 
it  with  powder. 

"  See  that,  now,"  he  said,  snipping 
briskly  with  the  scissors ;  "  that  string  of 
woolen  yarn  that  yez  left  there,  a-burnin' 
away  outside,  might  burst  the  whole  gun, 
an'  ivery  sowl  in  the  blockhouse  would  be 
kilt  intirely,  —  moind  ye  that,  now  !  —  an' 
they  would  n't  be  the  Frenchies,  nayther  !  " 
He  gave  her  a  keen  warning  glance  at 
rather  close  range,  then  once  more  re 
newed  his  labors. 

The  mockingbirds  were  singing  in  the 
woods  outside.  The  sun  was  in  the  trees. 
The  leafage  had  progressed  beyond  the 
bourgeoning  period  and  the  branches  flung 
broad  green  splendors  of  verdure  to  the 
breeze.  The  Great  Smoky  Mountains  were 
hardly  less  blue  than  the  sky  as  the  distant 


THE  LINGUISTER  95 

summits  deployed  against  the  fair  horizon  ; 
only  the  nearest,  close  at  hand,  were  sombre, 
and  showed  dark  luxuriant  foliage  and 
massive  craggy  steeps,  and  their  austere, 
silent,  magnificent  domes  looked  over  the 
scene  with  solemn  uplifting  meanings.  Oh, 
life  !  life  was  so  sweet,  and  love  and  friend 
ship  were  so  easy  to  come  by  and  so  hard 
to  part  withal,  and  glad,  oh,  glad  was  she 
that  no  men  of  the  French  nation  or  any 
other  were  on  their  march  hitherward  to  be 
torn  in  cruel  lacerations  by  those  wicked 
cartridges,  so  cleverly  and  artfully  and 
cheerfully  constructed,  —  men  with  homes, 
wives,  mothers,  sisters,  children,  every  sol 
dier  representing  to  some  anxious,  tender 
heart  a  whole  world,  a  microcosm  of  affec 
tion,  all  illuminated  with  hope  and  joy,  or 
to  be  clouded  with  grief  and  terror  and 
loss  and  despair,  —  oh,  glad,  glad  was  she 
that  the  French  invasion  was  but  a  figment, 
—  a  tissue  of  misconceptions  and  vague 
innuendoes  and  groundless  assumptions. 

And  yet  she  was  sad  and  sorry  and 
ashamed,  because  of  the  futile  bustle  and 
bluster  and  cheerful  courageous  activity 
about  her.  Not  a  cheek  had  blenched  ;  not 


96  THE  LINGUISTER 

a  hand  had  trembled  ;  not  a  voice  had  been 
lifted  to  protest  or  counsel  surrender,  de 
spite  their  meagre  capacities  for  defense  and 
their  number,  but  a  handful.  What  would 
these  men  say  to  her  if  they  knew  that  their 
patriotism  and  their  valor  were  expended 
in  vain,  —  above  all,  their  mutual  cause  of 
quarrel  wasted !  —  as  pretty  a  bit  of  neigh 
borhood  spite  as  ever  stopped  a  bullet - 
all  foolishly  and  needlessly  reconciled  with 
out  a  blow !  She  had  saved  them  from 
a  bloody  feud,  the  chances  of  which  were 
terrifying  to  her  for  their  own  sakes.  But 
what  would  they  say  when  discovery  should 
come ! 

Still,  it  might  never  come.  And  yet, 
should  they  patrol  the  woods  in  vain  and 
at  last  disperse  and  return  each  to  his  own 
home,  she  had  no  placidity  in  prospect,  — 
she  was  troubled  and  sad  and  her  sorry 
heart  was  heavy.  Her  scheme  had  succeeded 
beyond  her  wildest  hopes.  Her  beneficent 
artifice  had  fully  worked  its  mission.  And 
now,  since  there  was  no  more  to  be  done, 
she  had  time  to  repent  her  varied  deceits. 
Was  it  right  ?  she  asked  herself  in  consci 
entious  alarm,  not  the  less  sincere  because 


THE  LINGUISTER  97 

belated.  Ought  she  to  have  interfered,  with 
what  forces  it  was  possible  for  her  limited 
capacity  to  wield  ?  Had  they  an  inalienable 
right  to  cut  each  other's  throats  ?  Should 
she  have  so  presumed  ?  And  now  — 

"  Howly  Moses !  "  a  voice  in  shrill  agi 
tation  broke  in  upon  her  preoccupation. 
"  An'  is  it  sheddin'  tears  ye  are  upon  the 
blessed  gunpowther  ?  Sure  the  colleen  's 
crazed  !  Millia  Murther  !  the  beautiful  ca'- 
tridges  is  ruint  intoirely !  Any  man  moight 
be  proud  an'  plazed  to  be  kilt  by  the  loikes 
o'  them  !  How  many  o'  them  big  wathery 
tears  have  yez  been  after  sheddin'  into  aich 
o'  them  lovely  ca'tridges  ?  " 

He  had  risen ;  one  hand  was  laid  pro- 
tectingly  upon  the  completed  pile  of  fixed 
ammunition  as  if  to  ward  off  the  damping 
influences  of  her  woe,  while  he  ruefully 
contemplated  the  suspected  cartridge  bags, 
all  plump  and  tidy  and  workmanlike,  save 
for  their  possible  charge  of  tears.  She 
made  no  answer,  but  sat  quite  motionless 
upon  her  low  stool,  a  cartridge  bag  unfin 
ished  in  her  lap,  her  golden  brown  curls 
against  the  cannon,  still  weeping  her  large 
tears  and  looking  very  small. 


98  THE  LINGUISTER 

His  clamors  brought  half  the  force  to 
the  scene  of  the  disturbance.  A  keen  ques 
tion  here,  an  inference  needfully  taken 
there,  and  the  situation  was  plain  ! 

In  the  abrupt  pause  in  this  headlong  ca 
reer  it  was  difficult  to  sustain  one's  poise. 
Now  and  again,  indeed,  sheepish  conscious 
glances  were  interchanged ;  for  since  the 
grievance  of  the  cow-drivers  had  been  pub 
licly  annulled  and  the  horses  of  the  Blue 
Lick  Stationers  had  been  restored  in  pure 
neighborly  good-will,  a  resumption  of  the 
quarrel  on  the  old  invalid  scores  was  impos 
sible.  Perhaps  some  token  of  their  displea 
sure  might  have  been  visited  upon  her  who 
had  inaugurated  so  bold  and  extensive  a  wild 
goose  chase,  but  she  looked  so  small  as  she 
sat  by  the  cannon  weeping  her  large  tears 
that  she  disarmed  retaliation. 

So  small  she  looked,  indeed,  that  certain 
of  the  young  blades,  who  filed  in  to  gaze 
upon  her  and  filed  out  again,  would  not 
believe  that  she  could  have  invented  so 
large  a  French  invasion,  and  for  several 
days  they  futilely  scouted  the  woods  in 
search  of  some  errant  "  parlez-vous,"  all  of 
whom,  however,  were  very  discreetly  tucked 


THE  LINGUISTER  99 

away  within  the  strong  defenses  of  Fort 
Toulouse. 

The  young*  gunner  alone  was  implacable. 
He  was  the  first  of  the  returning  force  to 
reach  Fort  Prince  George,  and  he  carried 
with  him  all  the  powder  that  had  been  sent 
under  mistake  to  the  Blue  Lick  Station, 
together  with  the  tear-shotted  cartridges, 
whose  problematic  interior  damage  he  ex 
plained  to  the  amazed,  chagrined,  and  non 
plussed  commandant. 

"  Oh,  sor,"  the  gunner  said  in  conclu 
sion,  solemnly  shaking  his  head,  "  that  gurl, 
sor  !  —  she  is  a  wily  one  !  An'  I  should  n't 
be  surprised,  sor,  if  she  is  a  dale  taller  than 
she  looks  ! " 

The  Blue  Lick  Station  in  time  recovered 
its  equilibrium,  and  was  afterward  prone 
to  protest  that  of  all  frontier  communities 
it  bore  the  palm  for  the  efficiency  of  its 
"  linguister." 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

AT  Tennessee  Town,  on  the  Tennessee 
River,  there  used  to  be  a  great  chungke- 
yard.  It  was  laid  off  in  a  wide  rectangular 
area  nine  hundred  feet  long,  two  feet  lower 
than  the  surface  of  the  ground,  level  as  a 
floor,  and  covered  with  fine  white  sand. 
The  ancient,  curiously  shaped  chungke- 
stones,  fashioned  with  much  labor  from 
the  hardest  rock,  perfect  despite  imme 
morial  use,  kept  with  the  strictest  care, 
exempt  by  law  from  burial  with  the  effects 
of  the  dead,  were  the  property  of  this  Cher 
okee  town,  and  no  more  to  be  removed 
thence  than  the  council-house,  —  the  great 
rotunda  at  one  side  of  the  "beloved  square," 
built  upon  a  mound  in  the  centre  of  the 
village. 

Surely  no  spot  could  seem  more  felici 
tously  chosen  for  the  favorite  Indian  game. 
The  ground  rose  about  the  chungke-yard 
like  the  walls  of  an  amphitheatre,  on  every 
side  save  the  slope  toward  the  '*  beloved 


104  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

square  "  and  the  river,  furnishing  an  ideal 
position  of  vantage  for  spectators  were  they 
even  more  numerous  than  the  hundreds  of 
Cherokees  of  all  ages  that  had  gathered  on 
the  steep  acclivities  to  overlook  the  game  — 
some  ranged  on  the  terrace  or  turfy  ridge 
around  the  chungke-yard,  formed  by  the 
earth  thrown  out  when  the  depressed  area 
was  delved  down  long  ago,  others  disposed 
beneath  the  spreading  trees,  others  still, 
precariously  perched  on  clifty  promontories 
beetling  out  from  the  sharp  ascent.  Above 
all,  Chilhowee  Mountain,  aflare  with  the 
scarlet  glow  of  its  autumnal  woods,  touched 
the  blue  sky.  The  river,  of  a  kindred  blue, 
with  a  transient  steely  change  under  the 
shadow  of  a  cloud,  showed  flashes  of  white 
foam,  for  the  winds  were  rushing  down 
from  the  Great  Smoky  Mountains,  which 
were  revealed  for  an  instant  in  a  clear  hard 
azure  against  the  pearl-tinted  horizon  — 
then  again  only  a  mirage,  an  illusion,  a 
dream  of  stupendous  ranges  in  the  shimmer 
ing  mist. 

In  the  idle,  sylvan,  tribal  life  of  that 
date,  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  it 
might  seem  that  there  was  scant  duty  re- 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  105 

cognized,  imposing  serious  occupation,  to 
debar  the  population  of  Tennessee  Town 
from  witnessing  the  long-drawn  game,  which 
was  continued  sometimes  half  the  day  by 
the  same  hardy  young  warriors,  indefati 
gable  despite  the  hot  sun  and  the  tense  ex 
ercise,  straining  every  muscle.  A  few  old 
women,  their  minds  intent  upon  the  pre 
paration  of  dinner,  a  few  of  the  very  young 
children,  relishing  their  own  pottering  de 
vices  as  of  a  finer  flavor  of  sport,  a  few  old 
men,  like  other  old  men  elsewhere,  with 
thoughts  of  the  past  so  vivid  that  the  present 
could  show  but  a  pallid  aspect  —  these  were 
absent,  and  were  not  missed.  For  the  most 
part,  however,  the  little  dweUings  were  va 
cant.  The  usual  groups  of  loungers  had 
deserted  the  public  buildings,  which  con 
sisted  of  a  bark-and-log  house  of  tbree 
rooms,  or  divisions,  at  each  angle  of  the 
"  beloved  square,"  and  in  which  were  trans 
acted  the  business  affairs  of  the  town ;  - 
one,  painted  red,  was  the  "  war-cabin," 
whence  arms,  ammunition,  etc.,  were  distrib 
uted,  the  divisions  implying  distinctions  as  to 
rank  among  the  warriors ;  another,  painted 
white,  was  devoted  to  the  priestcraft  of  the 


106  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

"  beloved  men  "  —  head  men  of  note,  con 
jurers,  and  prophets ;  the  cabin  of  the  aged 
councilors  faced  the  setting  sun.  as  an  inti- 

o  * 

mation  that  their  wars  were  ended  and  their 
day  done ;  and  in  the  fourth  cabin  met  the 
"second  men/'  as  the  traders  called  the 
subordinate  authorities  who  conducted  mu 
nicipal  affairs,  so  to  speak  —  the  community 
labor  of  raising  houses,  and  laying  off  and 
planting  with  maize  and  pompions  the  com 
mon  fields  to  be  tilled  by  the  women,  "  who 
fret  at  the  very  shadow  of  a,  crow,"  writes 
an  old  trader.  All  these  cabins  were  now 
still  and  silent  in  the  sun.  The  dome-shaped 
town-house,  of  a  different  style  of  archi 
tecture,  plastered  within  and  without  with 
red  clay,  placed  high  on  the  artificial  mound, 
and  reached  by  an  ascent  of  stairs  which 
were  cut  in  regular  gradations  in  the 
earth,  lacked  its  strange  religious  ceremo 
nies  ;  its  secret  colloguing  council  of  chiefs 
with  the  two  princes  of  the  town  ;  its  visit 
ors  of  distinction,  ambassadors  from  other 
towns  or  Indian  nations;  its  wreaths  of 
tobacco  sent  forth  from  diplomatically 
smoked  pipes ;  its  strategic  "  talks ;  "  its 
exchange  of  symbolic  belts  and  strings  of 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  107 

wampum  and  of  swans'  wings  —  white,  or 
painted  red  and  black,  as  peace  hovered  or 
war  impended  —  and  other  paraphernalia  of 
the  savage  government.  Even  the  trading- 
house  showed  a  closed  door,  and  the  Eng 
lish  trader,  his  pipe  in  his  mouth,  smoked 
with  no  latent  significance,  but  merely  to 
garner  its  nicotian  solace,  sat  with  a  group 
of  the  elder  braves  and  watched  the  barbaric 
sport  with  an  interest  as  keen  as  if  he  had 
been  born  and  bred  an  Indian  instead  of 
native  to  the  far-away  dales  of  Devonshire. 
Nay,  he  bet  on  the  chances  of  the  game  with 
as  reckless  a  nerve  as  a  Cherokee,  —  always 
the  perfect  presentment  of  the  gambler,  — 
despite  the  thrift  which  characterized  his 
transactions  at  the  trading-house,  where  he 
was  wont  to  drive  a  close  bargain,  and  look 
with  the  discerning  scrupulousness  of  an 
expert  into  the  values  of  the  dressing  of 
a  deerskin  offered  in  barter.  But  the  one 
pursuit  was  pleasure,  and  the  other  busi 
ness.  The  deerskins  which  he  was  wearing 
were  of  phenomenal  softness  and  beauty  of 
finish,  for  the  spare,  dapper  man  was  ar 
rayed  like  the  Indians,  in  fringed  buckskin 
shirt  and  leggings  ;  but  he  was  experiencing 


108  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

a  vague  sentiment  of  contempt  for  his  attire. 
He  had  been  recently  wearing  a  garb  of  good 
camlet-cloth  and  hose  and  a  bravely  cocked 
hat,  for  he  was  just  returned  from  a  journey 
to  Charlestown,  five  hundred  miles  distant, 
where  he  had  made  a  considerable  stay, 
and  his  muscles  and  attitude  were  still  ad 
justed  to  the  pride  of  preferment  and  the 
consciousness  of  being  unwontedly  smart. 
Indeed,  his  pack-train,  laden  with  powder 
and  firearms,  beads  and  cloth,  cutlery  and 
paints,  for  his  traffic  with  the  Indians  under 
the  license  which  he  held  from  the  British 
government,  had  but  come  in  the  previous 
day,  and  he  had  still  the  pulses  of  civiliza 
tion  beating  in  his  veins. 

For  this  reason,  perhaps,  as  he  sat,  one 
elbow  on  his  knee,  his  chin  in  his  hand, 
his  sharp,  commercially  keen  face  softened 
by  a  thought  not  akin  to  trade,  his  eyes 
were  darkened,  while  he  gazed  at  one  of 
the  contestants,  with  a  doubt  that  had  little 
connection  with  the  odds  which  he  had  of 
fered.  He  was  troubled  by  a  vague  regret, 
a  speculation  of  restless  futility,  for  it  con 
cerned  a  future  so  unusual  that  no  detail 
could  be  predicted  from  the  resources  of 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  109 

the  present.  And  yet  this  sentiment  was 
without  the  poignancy  of  personal  grief  — 
it  was  only  a  vicarious  interest  that  animated 
him.  For  himself,  despite  the  flattering, 
smooth  reminiscence  of  the  camlet-cloth  yet 
lingering  in  the  nerves  of  his  finger-tips, 
the  recent  relapse  into  English  speech,  the 
interval  spent  once  more  among  the  stir  of 
streets  and  shops,  splendid  indeed  to  an 
unwonted  gaze,  the  commercial  validities, 
which  he  so  heartily  appreciated,  of  the 
warehouses,  and  crowded  wharves,  and 
laden  merchantmen  swinging  at  anchor  in 
the  great  harbor,  he  was  satisfied.  He  was 
possessed  by  that  extraordinary  renuncia 
tion  of  civilization  which  now  and  again 
was  manifested  by  white  men  thrown  among 
the  Cherokee  tribe  —  sometimes,  as  in  his 
instance,  a  trader,  advanced  in  years,  "  his 
pile  made,"  to  use  the  phrase  of  to-day,  the 
world  before  him  where  to  choose  a  home ; 
sometimes  a  deserter  from  the  British  or 
French  military  forces,  according  to  the 
faction  which  the  shifting  Cherokees  af 
fected  at  the  time  ;  more  than  once  a  cap 
tive,  spared  for  some  whim,  set  at  liberty, 
free  to  go  where  he  would  —  all  deliberately 


110  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

and  of  choice  cast  their  lot  among  the 
Cherokees ;  lived  and  died  with  the  treach 
erous  race.  Whether  the  wild  sylvan  life 
had  some  peculiarly  irresistible  attraction ; 
whether  the  world  beyond  held  for  them 
responsibilities  and  laborious  vocations  and 
irksome  ties  which  they  would  fain  evade  ; 
whether  they  fell  under  the  bewitchment  of 
"  Herbert's  Spring/'  named  from  an  early 
commissioner  of  Indian  affairs,  after  drink 
ing  whereof  one  could  not  quit  the  region 
of  the  Great  Smoky  Mountains,  but  re 
mained  in  that  enchanted  country  for  seven 
years,  fascinated,  lapsed  in  perfect  content 
—  it  is  impossible  to  say.  There  is  a  tra 
dition  that  when  the  attraction  of  the  world 
would  begin  to  reassert  its  subtle  reminis 
cent  forces,  these  renegades  of  civilization 
were  wont  to  repair  anew  to  this  fountain  to 
quaff  again  of  the  ancient  delirium  and  to 
revive  its  potent  spell.  Abram  Varney  had 
no  such  necessity  in  his  own  case ;  he  only 
doubted  the  values  of  his  choice  as  fitted 
for  another. 

Apart  from  this  reflection,  it  was  natural 
that  his  eyes  should  follow  the  contestant 
whom  he  had  backed  for  a  winner  to  the 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  111 

tune  of  more  silver  bangles,  and  "  ear-bobs/' 
and  strings  of  "  roanoke,"  and  gunpowder, 
and  red  and  white  paint,  than  he  was  minded 
to  lightly  lose.  He  had  laid  his  wagers  with 
a  keen  calculation  of  the  relative  endow 
ments  of  the  players,  their  dexterity,  their 
experience,  their  endurance.  He  was  not 
influenced  by  any  pride  of  race  in  the  fact 
that  his  champion  was  also  a  white  man, 
who,  indeed,  carried  a  good  share  of  the 
favor  of  the  spectators. 

A  strange  object  was  this  champion,  at 
once  pathetic  and  splendid.  No  muscular 
development  could  have  been  finer,  no  ath 
letic  grace  more  pronounced  than  his  phy 
sique  displayed.  The  wild  life  and  training 
of  the  woods  and  the  savage  wars  had 
brought  out  all  the  constitutional  endur 
ance  and  strength  inherited  from  his  stanch 
English  father  and  his  hardy  Scotch  mother. 
Both  had  been  murdered  by  the  Cherokees 
in  a  frontier  massacre,  and  as  a  boy  of  ten 
years  of  age,  his  life  spared  in  some  freak 
of  the  moment,  he  had  been  conveyed 
hither,  exhorted  to  forget,  adopted  into  the 
tribe,  brought  up  with  their  peculiar  kind 
ness  in  the  rearing  of  children,  taught  all  the 


112  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

sylvan  arts,  and  trained  to  the  stern  duties 
of  war  by  the  noted  chief  Colannah  Giga- 
gei,  himself,  the  Great  Red  Raven  of  Ten 
nessee  Town  (sometimes  called  Quorinnah, 
the  name  being  a  favorite  war-title  spe 
cially  coveted).  The  youth  had  had  his 
baptism  of  fire  in  the  ceaseless  wars  which 
the  Cherokees  waged  against  the  other  In- 

o  o 

dian  tribes.  He  had  already  won  the  "  war 
rior's  crown  "  and  his  "  war-name/'  a  title 
conferred  only  upon  the  bravest  of  the  brave. 
He  was  now  Otasite,  the  "  Man-killer  "  of 
Tennessee  Town.  He  was  just  twenty  years 
of  age,  and  Abram  Varney,  gazing  at  him, 
wondered  what  the  people  in  Charlestown 
would  think  of  him  could  they  see  him. 
For  a  few  days,  a  week,  perhaps,  the  trader 
would  refer  all  his  thoughts  to  this  civilized 
standard. 

Tall,  alert  as  an  Indian,  supple  too,  but 
heavier  and  more  muscular,  Otasite  was  in 
stantly  to  be  distinguished  by  his  build 
from  among  the  other  young  men,  although, 
like  the  Indians,  he  wore  a  garb  of  dressed 
deerskin.  His  face,  albeit  no  stranger  to 
the  use  of  their  pigments  and  unguents, 
still  showed  fair  and  freckled.  His  hair  bore 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  113 

no  resemblance  to  their  lank  black  locks ; 
of  an  auburn  hue  and  resolutely  curling,  it 
defied  the  tonsure  to  which  it  had  been  for 
years  subjected,  coming  out  crisp  and  ring 
leted  close  to  his  head  where  he  was  de 
signed  to  be  bald,  and  on  the  top,  where 
the  "  war-lock"  was  permitted  to  grow,  it 
floated  backward  in  two  long  tangled  red 
curls  that  gave  the  lie  direct  to  the  Indian 
similitude  affected  by  the  two  surmounting 
tips  of  eagle  feathers.  He  was  arrayed  in 
much  splendor,  according  to  aboriginal 
standards ;  the  fringed  seams  of  his  hunt 
ing  shirt  and  leggings,  fashioned  of  fine 
white  dressed  doeskin,  as  pliable  as  "  Can 
ton  silk  crape,"  were  hung  with  fawns' 
trotters ;  his  moccasins  were  white  and 
streaked  with  parti-colored  paint ;  he  had  a 
curious  prickly  belt  of  wolves'  teeth,  which 
intimated  his  moral  courage  as  well  as  syl 
van  prowess,  for  the  slaying  of  these  beasts 
was  esteemed  unlucky,  and  shooting  at  them 
calculated  to  spoil  the  aim  of  a  gun ;  many 
glancing,  glittering  strings  of  "  roanoke  " 
swung  around  his  neck. 

Nothing  could  have  been  finer,  athlet 
ically  considered,  than  his  attitude  at  this 


114  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

moment  of  the  trader's  speculative  obser 
vation.  The  discoidal  quartz  chungke-stone2 
had  been  hurled  with  a  tremendous  fling 
along  the  smooth  sandy  stretch  of  the  yard, 
its  flat  edge,  two  inches  wide,  and  the  cu 
riously  exact  equipoise  of  its  fashioning 
causing  it  to  bowl  swiftly  along  a  great 
distance,  to  fall  only  when  the  original  im 
petus  should  fail ;  his  competitor,  Wyejah, 
a  sinewy,  powerful  young  brave,  his  buck 
skin  garb  steeped  in  some  red  dye  that 
gave  him  the  look  when  at  full  speed  of  the 
first  flying  leaf  of  the  falling  season,  his 
ears  split  and  barbarically  distended  on  wire 
hoops3  and  hung  with  silver  rings,  his  moc 
casins  scarlet,  his  black  hair  decorated  with 
cardinal  wings,  had  just  sent  his  heavy  lance, 
twelve  feet  long,  skimming  through  the 
air  ;  then  Otasite,  running  swiftly  but  lightly 
abreast  with  him,  launched  his  own  long 
lance  with  such  force  and  nicety  of  aim 
that  its  point  struck  the  end  of  Wyejah's 
spear,  still  in  flight  in  mid-air,  deflecting 
its  direction,  and  sending  it  far  afield  from 
the  chungke-stone  which  it  was  designed 
in  falling  to  touch.  This  fine  cast  counted 
one  point  in  the  game,  which  is  of  eleven 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  115 

points,  and  the  Indian  braves  among  the 
spectators  howled  like  civilized  young  men 
at  a  horse-race. 

The  sport  was  very  keen,  the  contest 
being  exceedingly  close,  for  Wyejah  had 
long  needed  only  one  additional  point  to 
make  him  a  winner,  and  when  Otasite  had 
failed  to  score  he  had  also  failed.  The  swift 
motion,  the  graceful  agility,  the  smiling 
face  of  Otasite,  —  for  it  was  a  matter  of  the 
extremest  exaction  in  the  Indian  games  that 
however  strenuous  the  exertion  and  tense 
the  strain  upon  the  nerves  and  grievous  the 
mischances  of  the  sport,  the  utmost  pla 
cidity  of  manner  and  temper  must  be  pre 
served  throughout,  —  all  appealed  freshly 
to  the  trader,  although  it  was  a  long-accus 
tomed  sight. 

"  Many  a  man  in  Charlestown  —  a  well- 
to-do  man"  (applying  the  commercial  stand 
ard  of  value)  —  "  would  be  proud  to  have 
such  a  son,"  he  muttered,  a  trifle  dismayed 
by  the  perverse  incongruities  of  fate.  "  He 
would  have  sent  the  boy  to  school.  If 
there  was  money  enough  he  would  have 
sent  him  to  England  to  be  educated  —  and 
none  too  good  for  him  ! " 


116  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

The  shadows  of  the  two  players,  all  fore 
shortened  by  the  approach  of  noontide, 
bobbed  about  in  dwarfish  caricature  along 
the  smooth  sandy  stretch.  The  great 
chungke-pole,  an  obelisk  forty  feet  high 
planted  on  a  low  mound  in  the  centre  of 
the  chungke-yard,  and  with  a  target  at  its 
summit  used  for  trials  of  skill  in  marks 
manship,  cast  a  diminished  simulacrum  on 
the  ground  at  its  base  scarcely  larger  than 
the  chungke-lances.  Now  and  again  these 
heavy  projectiles  flew  through  the  air,  im 
pelled  with  an  incredible  force  and  a  skill 
so  accurate  that  it  seemed  impossible  that 
both  contestants  should  not  excel.  There 
was  a  moment,  however,  when  Otasite  might 
have  made  the  decisive  point  to  score 
eleven  had  not  the  chungke-stone  slipped 
from  the  hand  of  Wyejah  as  he  cast  it,  fall 
ing  only  a  few  yards  distant.  Otasite's 
lance,  flung  instantly,  shot  far  beyond  that 
missile,  for  which,  had  the  stone  been  pro 
perly  thrown,  he  should  have  aimed.  Wye 
jah,  disconcerted  and  shaken  by  the  mis 
chance,  launching  his  lance  at  haphazard, 
almost  mechanically,  struck  by  obvious  ac 
cident  the  flying  lance  of  his  adversary, 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  117 

deflecting  its  course  —  the  decisive  cast,  for 
which  he  had  striven  so  long  in  vain,  and 
which  was  now  merely  fortuitous. 

The  crowds  of  Indian  gamblers,  with 
much  money  and  goods  at  hazard  upon  the 
event,  some,  indeed,  having  staked  the 
clothes  upon  their  backs,  the  rifles  and 
powder  for  their  winter  hunt  that  should 
furnish  them  with  food,  were  at  once  in  a 
clamor  of  discussion  as  to  the  fair  adjust 
ment  of  the  throw  in  the  score.  The  back 
ers  of  Wyejah  claimed  the  accidental  hit 
as  genuine  and  closing  the  game.  The 
backers  of  Otasite  protested  that  it  could 
not  be  thus  held,  since  Wyejah's  defective 
cast  of  the  chungke-stone  debarred  their 
champion  from  the  possibility  of  first  scor 
ing  the  eleventh  point,  which  chance  was 
his  by  right,  it  being  his  turn  to  play ; 
they  met  the  argument  caviling  at  Otasite' s 
lack  of  aim  by  the  counter-argument  that 
one  does  not  aim  at  a  moving  object  where 
it  is  at  the  moment,  but  with  an  intuitive 
calculation  of  distance  and  speed  where  it 
will  be  when  reached  by  the  projectile 
hurled  after  it,  illustrating  cleverly  by  the 
example  of  shooting  with  bow  and  arrow 
at  a  bird  on  the  wing. 


118  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

Otasite  and  Wyejah  both  preserved  an 
appearance  of  joyous  indifference.  With 
their  lances  poised  high  in  the  right  hand 
they  were  together  running  swiftly  up  the 
long  alley  again  to  the  starting-point,  Ota- 
site  commenting  on  the  evident  lack  of 
intention  in  Wyejah's  lucky  cast  with  a 
loud,  jocosely  satiric  cry,  "  Hala  !  Hala  !  " 
(signifying,  "  You  are  too  many  for  me  !  ") 

"  Lord  !  how  the  boy  does  yell !  "  Abram 
Varney  exclaimed,  a  smile  pervading  the 
wrinkles  wrought  about  his  eyes  by  much 
pondering  on  the  problems  of  the  Indian 
trade,  feeling  incongruously  a  sort  of  elation 
in  the  youth's  noisy  shouts,  which  echoed 
blatantly  from  the  rocky  banks  of  the  Ten 
nessee  River,  and  with  reduced  arrogance 
and  in  softer  tones  from  the  cliffs  of  tower 
ing  Chilhowee. 

A  sympathetic  sentiment  glowed  in  the 
dark  eyes  of  an  Indian  chief  on  the  slope 
hard  by,  the  great  Colannah  Gigagei.  He 
was  fast  aging  now ;  the  difficulties  of  di 
plomacy  constantly  increasing  in  view  of 
individual  aggressions  and  encroachments 
of  the  Carolina  colonists  on  the  east,  and 
the  ever  specious  wiles  and  suave  allure- 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  119 

ments  of  the  French  on  the  west,  to  win  the 
Cherokees  from  their  British  alliance ;  the 
impossibility,  in  the  gentle  patriarchal  meth 
ods  of  the  Cherokee  government,  to  control 
the  wild  young  men  of  the  tribe,  who,  as 
the  half -king,  Atta-Kulla-Kulla  said,  "  often 
acted  like  madmen  rather  than  people  of 
sense "  (and  it  is  respectfully  submitted 
that  this  peculiarity  has  been  observed  in 
other  young  men  elsewhere) ;  the  prophetic 
vision,  doubtless,  of  the  eventual  crushing 
of  his  people  in  the  collisions  of  the  great 
international  struggle  of  the  Europeans  for 
the  possession  of  this  country,  — all  fostered 
tokens  of  time  in  the  face  of  Colannah, 
and  bowed  his  straight  back,  and  set  an 
unwonted  quiver  in  the  nerves  of  his  old 
hand  that  had  been  firm  in  his  heyday,  and 
strong  and  crafty  and  cruelly  bloody.  But 
his  face  now  was  softened  with  pleasure, 
and  the  pride  it  expressed  was  almost  ten 
der. 

"  When  a  few  years  ago  the  Governor  of 
South  Carolina,"  he  said  majestically,  speak 
ing  in  the  Cherokee  tongue  but  for  the  Eng 
lish  names  (he  pronounced  the  title  "  Go- 
weno  "),  "  offered  to  take  some  Cherokee 


120  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

youths  to  train  in  his  schools  and  make 
scholars  of  them,  I  thanked  him  with  affec 
tion,  for  his  thought  was  kind.  But  I  told 
him  that  if  he  would  send  some  South 
Carolina  youths  to  the  Cherokee  nation  to 
be  trained,  we  would  make  men  of  them !  " 

His  blanket,  curiously  woven  of  feathers 
and  wild  hemp,  requiring  years  of  labor  in 
its  intricate  manufacture,  fell  away  from  one 
gaunt  arm  as  he  lifted  it  to  point  with  a 
kingly  gesture  at  the  young  white  man  as 
the  illustration  of  his  training.  Every  muscle 
of  strength  was  on  parade  in  the  splendid 
pose  of  hurling  the  great  chungke-spear 
through  the  air,  as  Otasite  thus  passed  the 
interval  while  waiting  the  decision  of  the 
umpire  of  the  game.  Then,  with  a  kugh, 
oddly  blent  of  affection  and  pride,  Colannah 
took  his  way  down  the  slope  and  toward  the 
council-house :  the  council  sat  there  much 
in  these  days  of  1753,  clouded  with  smoke 
and  perplexity. 

Judging  by  this  specimen  of  his  athletic 
training  to  feats  of  prowess,  Colannah  Gi- 
gagei  might  boast  to  the  "  Goweno "  of 
South  Carolina.  It  was  not,  however,  merely 
in  muscle  that  the  young  captive  excelled. 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  121 

As  Abram  Varney  thought  of  certain  ster 
ling  manly  traits  of  the  highest  type  which 
this  poor  waif  had  developed  here  in  this  in 
congruous  environment,  one  might  suppose 
from  the  sheer  force  of  heredity,  he  shook 
his  head  silently,  and  his  eyes  clouded,  the 
pulses  of  Charlestown  still  beating  in  his 
veins.  For  he  was  wont  to  leave  for  months 
the  treasures  of  his  trading-house,  not  merely 
a  matter  of  trinkets  and  beads,  but  powder, 
lead,  and  firearms,  sufficient  for  accoutring 
an  expedition  for  the  "war-path,"  and  great 
store  of  cloths,  cutlery,  paints,  in  the  charge 
of  this  valiant  gamester  of  chungke,  stanch 
alike  against  friend  and  foe,  as  safely  as  if 
its  wealth  were  beneath  his  own  eye.  So  in 
secure  had  become  the  Cherokee  allegiance 
to  the  government  that  it  was  impossible 
now  under  its  uncertain  protection  to  retain 
white  men  from  the  colonies  here  in  his  em 
ploy  as  agents  and  under-traders,  or,  indeed, 
those  whose  interest  and  profits  amounted 
to  an  ownership  in  a  share  of  the  stock. 
The  earlier  traders  in  neighboring  towns 
one  by  one  had  gone,  affecting  a  base  sev 
eral  hundred  miles  nearer  the  white  settle 
ments.  Some  had  shifted  altogether  from 


122  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

the  tribe,  and  secured  a  post  among  the 
Chickasaws,  who  were  indubitably  loyal  to 
the  British.  While  their  withdrawal  added 
to  Varney's  profits,  —  for  each  trader  was 
allowed  to  hold  at  this  time  a  license  only 
for  two  Indian  towns,  it  being  before  the 
date  of  the  issuance  of  general  licenses,  and 
the  custom  which  they  had  relinquished, 
the  barter  with  the  Cherokees  for  deerskins, 
now  came  from  long  distances,  drawn  as  by 
a  magnet  to  his  trading-house  at  Tennessee 
Town,  —  it  had  resulted  in  his  isolation,  and 
for  years  he  had  been  almost  the  only  Brit 
ish  subject  west  of  the  Great  Smoky  Moun 
tains.  He  had  no  fear  of  the  Cherokees, 
however  —  not  even  should  the  political  sky, 
always  somewhat  overcast,  become  yet  more 
lowering.  He  had  long  been  accustomed  to 
these  Indians,  and  he  felt  that  he  had  fast 
friends  among  them.  His  sane  mercantile 
judgment  appraised  and  appreciated  the 
added  opportunities  of  his  peculiar  position, 
which  he  would  not  lightly  throw  away,  and 
the  development  of  Otasite's  incongruous 
commercial  values  not  only  removed  the 
possibility  of  loss  during  his  absence,  but 
added  to  his  facilities  in  enabling  him  to 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  123 

secure  the  fidelity  of  Indians  as  packmen, 
hitherto  impracticable,  but  now  rendered  to 
Otasite  as  one  of  the  tribe.  He  had  recog 
nized  with  satisfaction,  mingled  with  amuse 
ment,  national  traits  in  the  boy,  who,  despite 
his  Indian  training,  would  not,  like  them, 
barter  strings  of  wampum  measuring  "  from 
elbow  to  wrist "  without  regard  to  the  rela 
tive  length  of  arm.  Yet  he  had  none  of  the 
Indian  deceit  and  treachery.  He  was  blunt, 
sincere,  and  bold.  His  alertness  in  compu 
tation  gave  Varney  genuine  pleasure,  al 
though  they  wrangled  much  as  to  his  method, 
for  he  used  the  Cherokee  numeration,  and 
it  set  the  trader's  mercantile  teeth  on  edge 
to  hear  twenty  called  "  tahre  skoeh"  —  two 
tens. 

"  And  why  not  ? ' '  Otasite  would  demand, 
full  of  faith  in  his  own  education.  "The 
Chickasaw  will  say  'pokoole  toogalo  '  —  ten 
twos  "  —  and  he  would  smile  superior.  This 
was  his  world,  and  these  his  standards  — 
the  Cherokees  and  the  Chickasaws ! 

He  was  not  to  be  easily  influenced  or 
turned  save  by  some  spontaneous  acquies 
cence  of  his  own  mind,  and  Varney  found 
himself  counting  "  skoeh  chooke  kaiere " 


124  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

(the  old  one's  hundred)  before  he  ever  in 
duced  Otasite  to  say  instead  "  one  thou 
sand."  " 

The  boy  even  ventured  on  censorship  in 
his  turn.  "  You  say '  Cherokees '  and '  Chick- 
asaws '  when  you  speak  of  the  Tsullakee  and 
the  Chickasaw ;  why  don't  you  then  say  the 
English-es  and  the  French-es  ? "  For  the 
plural  designation  of  these  tribes  was  a  co 
lonial  invention. 

His  bulldog  tenacity,  his  orderly  instincts, 
his  providence,  so  contrary  to  the  methods  of 
the  wasteful  Indian,  his  cheerful  industry, 
his  indomitable  energy  and  perseverance,  — 
all  were  so  national  that  in  days  gone  past 
Varney  used  now  and  again  to  clap  him  op 
the  shoulder  with  a  loud,  careless  vaunt, 
"  British  to  the  marrow  !  " 

A  fact,  doubtless  —  and  all  of  a  sudden 
it  had  begun  to  seem  a  very  serious  fact. 
So  very  serious,  indeed,  that  the  old  trader 
did  not  notice  the  crisis  in  the  chungke-yard, 
the  increasing  excitement  in  the  crowds  of 
spectators,  the  clamors  presently  when  the 
game  was  declared  a  draw  and  the  bets  off, 
the  stir  of  the  departing  groups.  It  was  si 
lence  at  last  that  smote  upon  his  senses 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  125 

with  the  effect  of  interruption  which  the 
continuance  of  sound  had  not  been  able  to 
compass.  He  drew  himself  up  with  a  per 
plexed  sigh,  and  looked  drearily  over  the 
expanse  of  the  river.  Its  long  glittering 
reaches  were  vacant,  a  rare  circumstance, 
for  the  Cherokees  of  that  date  were  almost 
amphibious  in  habit,  reveling  in  the  many 
lovely  streams  of  their  mountain  country ; 
on  the  banks  their  towns  were  situated,  and 
this  fact  doubtless  contributed  to  the  neat 
ness  of  their  habitations  and  personal  clean 
liness,  to  which  the  travelers  of  those  times 
bear  a  surprised  testimony.  The  light  upon 
the  water  was  aslant  now  from  a  westering 
sun,  and  glittering  on  the  snowy  breasts  of 
a  cluster  of  swans  drifting,  dreaming  per 
haps,  on  the  current.  The  scarlet  boughs 
on  the  summit  of  Chilhowee  were  motion 
less  against  the  azure  zenith.  Not  even  the 
vaguest  tissue  of  mist  now  lingered  about  the 
majestic  domes  of  the  Great  Smoky  Moun 
tains,  painted  clearly  and  accurately  in  fine 
and  minute  detail  in  soft  dense  velvet  blues 
against  the  hard  polished  mineral  blue  of 
the  horizon.  The  atmosphere  was  so  exqui 
sitely  luminous  and  pellucid  that  it  might 


126  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

have  seemed  a  fit  medium  to  dispel  uncer 
tainty  in  other  than  merely  material  sub 
jects  of  contemplation.  Nevertheless  he  did 
not  see  his  way  clearly,  and  when  he  came 
within  view  of  his  trading-house  he  paused 
as  abruptly  as  if  he  had  found  his  path 
blocked  by  an  obstacle. 

There,  seated  on  the  step  of  the  closed 
door  which  boasted  the  only  lock  and  key 
in  Tennessee  Town,  or  for  the  matter  of 
that  in  all  the  stretch  of  the  Cherokee  coun 
try  west  of  the  Great  Smoky  Range,  was 
Otasite,  the  incongruity  of  his  auburn  curls 
and  his  Indian  headdress  seeming  a  trifle 
more  pronounced  than  usual,  since  it  had 
been  for  a  time  an  unfamiliar  sight.  He 
was  awaiting  the  coming  of  the  trader,  and 
was  singing  meanwhile  in  a  loud  and  cheer 
ful  voice,  "  Drink  with  me  a  cup  of  wine,"  a 
ditty  which  he  had  heard  in  his  half -forgot 
ten  childhood.  The  robust  full  tones  gave 
no  token  of  the  draught  made  upon  his  en 
durance  by  the  heavy  exercise  of  the  day, 
but  he  seemed  a  bit  languid  from  the  heat, 
and  his  doeskin  shirt  was  thrown  open  at 
the  throat,  showing  his  broad  white  chest, 
and  in  its  centre  the  barbarous  blue  discol- 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  127 

orations  of  the  "  warrior's  marks."  These 
disfigurements,  made  by  the  puncturing  of 
the  flesh  with  gars'  teeth  and  inserting  in  the 
wound  paint  and  pitch,  indelible  testimonials 
to  his  deeds  of  courage  and  prowess,  Otasite 
valued  as  he  did  naught  else  on  earth,  and  he 
would  have  parted  with  his  right  hand  as 
readily.  The  first  had  been  bestowed  upon 
him  after  he  had  gone,  a  mighty  gun-man, 
against  the  Muscogees.  The  others  he  had 
won  in  the  course  of  a  long,  furious,  and 
stubborn  contest  of  the  tribe  with  the  Chick- 
asaws,  who,  always  impolitic,  headlong,  and 
brave,  were  now  reduced  by  their  own  valor 
in  their  many  wars  from  ten  thousand  fight 
ing  men  to  a  few  hundred.  He  had  attained 
the  "  warrior's  crown  "  when  he  had  shown 
their  kindred  Choctaws  a  mettle  as  fierce 
and  a  craft  as  keen  as  their  own.  And 
now  he  was  looking  at  Abram  Varney  with 
kindly  English  eyes  and  an  expression  about 
the  brow,  heavily  freckled,  that  almost  smote 
the  tears  from  the  elder  man.  The  trader 
knew  from  long  experience  what  was  com 
ing,  but  suddenly  he  had  begun  to  regard 
it  differently.  Always  upon  the  end  of  each 
journey  from  Charlestown  he  had  been  met 


128  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

here  within  a  day  or  two  by  Otasite  on  the 
same  mission.  The  long  years  as  they  passed 
had  wrought  only  external  changes  since, 
as  a  slender  wistful  boy  of  eleven  years, 
heart-sick,  homeless,  forlorn,  friendless,  save 
for  his  Indian  captors,  likely,  indeed,  to 
forget  all  language  but  theirs,  he  had  first 
come  with  his  question,  always  in  English, 
always  with  a  faltering  eyelash  and  a  depre 
catory  lowered  voice,  "  Did  you  hear  any 
thing  in  Charlestown  of  any  people  named 
<  Queetlee  '  ?  " 

This  was  the  distorted  version  of  his  fa 
ther's  name  that  Colannah  had  preserved. 
As  to  the  child  himself,  his  memory  had 
perhaps  been  shaken  by  the  events  of  that 
terrible  night  of  massacre,  which  he  only 
realized  as  a  frightful  awakening  from  sleep 
to  smoke,  flames,  screams,  the  ear-splitting 
crack  of  rifle-shots  at  close  quarters,  the 
shock  of  a  sudden  hurt  —  and  then,  after  an 
interval  of  unconsciousness,  a  transition  to 
a  new  world  of  strange  habitudes  that  grew 
speedily  familiar,  and  of  unexpected  kind 
ness  that  became  dear  to  a  frank,  affection 
ate  heart.  Perhaps  in  the  isolations  of  the 
frontier  life  he  had  never  heard  his  father 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  129 

addressed  by  his  surname  by  a  stranger ; 
he  was  called  "  Jan  "  by  his  wife,  and  her 
name  was  "  Eelin,"  and  this  Otasite  knew, 
and  this  was  all  he  knew,  save  that  he  him 
self  also  had  been  called  "  Jan." 

"  They  don't  want  you,  my  buck,  or  they 
would  have  been  after  you,"  the  trader  used 
to  reply,  being  harder,  perhaps  when  he  was 
younger.  Besides,  he  honestly  thought  the 
cadaverous  brat,  all  legs,  like  a  growing 
colt,  and  skinny  arms,  was  better  off  here 
in  the  free  woodland  life  which  he  himself 
considered  no  hardship,  and  affected  long 
after  necessity  or  interest  had  dictated  his 
environment.  The  little  lad  was  safe  in  the 
care  of  the  powerful  chief  Colannah  Gigagei 
of  Tennessee  Town,  who  had  adopted  him, 
and  who  was  a  man  of  great  force  and  in 
fluence.  Why  should  the  child  seek  a  home 
among  his  own  people,  unwelcome  doubt 
less,  to  eat  the  meagre  crust  of  charity,  or 
serve  as  an  overworked  drudge  somewhere 
on  the  precarious  frontier  ?  The  trader  did 
not  greatly  deplore  the  lack  of  religious 
training,  for  in  the  remote  settlements  this 
was  often  still  an  unaccustomed  luxury,  al 
beit  some  thirty  years  had  now  gone  by 


130  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

since  Sir  Francis  Nicholson,  then  the  Gov 
ernor,  declared  that  no  colony  could  flourish 
•without  a  wider  diffusion  of  the  gospel  and 
education,  and  forthwith  ordered  spiritual 
drill,  so  to  speak,  in  the  way  of  preaching 
and  schooling.  Although  himself  described 
as  "  a  profane,  passionate,  headstrong  man, 
bred  a  soldier,"  as  if  the  last  fact  were  an 
excuse  for  the  former,  he  contributed  largely 
to  the  furtherance  of  these  pious  objects, 
"  spending  liberally  all  his  salary  and  per 
quisites  of  office,"  for  which  generous  trait 
of  character  an  early  and  strait-laced  histo 
rian  is  obviously  of  the  opinion  that  General 
Nicholson  should  have  been  suffered  to 
swear  in  peace  and,  as  it  were,  in  the  odor 
of  sanctity. 

More  than  once,  when  in  Charlestown, 
Varney,  notwithstanding  his  persuasions  on 
the  subject,  had  been  minded  to  inquire 
concerning  the  "  Queetlees,"  who  he  under 
stood  from  Colannah  had  come  originally 
from  Cumberland  in  England.  With  his 
mercantile  cronies  he  had  canvassed  the  ques 
tion  whether  the  queer,  evidently  distorted 
name  could  have  been  "  Peatley "  or 
"Patey"  or  «  Pe trie,"  —  for  the  Chero- 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  131 

kees  always  substituted  "  Q  "  for  "  P,"  as 
the  latter  letter  they  could  not  pronounce,  — 
and  after  this  transient  consideration  the 
matter  would  drop. 

As  the  child,  running  about  the  Indian 
town  with  his  new-found  playmates,  grew 
robust  and  merry-hearted,  and  happiness, 
confidence,  and  strength  brought  their  em 
bellishing  influence  to  the  expression .  of  his 
large  dark  gray  eyes  and  straightened  the 
nervous  droop  from  his  thin  little  shoulders, 
the  trader  noticed  casually  once  or  twice 
how  comely  the  brat  had  become,  and  he 
experienced  a  fleeting,  half-ridiculing  pity 
for  his  mother  —  how  the  woman  would  have 
resented  and  resisted  the  persistent  shearing 
and  shaving  of  those  silken,  loosely  twining 
red  curls  !  Then  he  thought  of  her  no  more. 
But  when  the  child  had  come  to  man's  es 
tate,  when  he  was  encased  in  a  network  of 
muscle  like  elastic  steel  wires,  when  stature 
and  strength  had  made  him  alike  formidable 
and  splendid,  when  the  development  of  his 
temperament  illustrated  virtues  so  stanch 
that  they  seemed  the  complement  of  his 
physical  endowment  and  a  part  of  his  reso 
lute  personality,  the  old  trader  thought  of 


132  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

the  boy's  father,  and  thought  of  him  daily 
—  how  the  sturdy  Cumbrian  yeoman  would 
have  rejoiced  in  so  stalwart  a  son  !  Thus, 
with  this  vague  bond  of  sympathy  with  a 
man  whom  he  had  never  seen,  never  known, 
so  long  ago,  so  cruelly  dead,  this  intuitive 
divination  of  his  paternal  sentiment,  Var- 
ney's  fatherly  attitude  grew  more  definite 
daily  and  became  accustomed,  and  he  was 
jealous  of  the  influence  of  Colannah,  who  in 
turn  was  jealous  of  his  influence. 

Now  as  Varney  stood  in  the  dusky  trad 
ing-house  among  the  kegs  and  bags  and 
bales  of  goods,  the  high  peak  of  the  interior 
of  the  roof  lost  in  the  lofty  shadows,  he  felt 
that  he  had  been  much  in  default  in  long- 
past  years,  and  he  experienced  a  very  defi 
nite  pang  of  conscience  as  Otasite  swung 
abruptly  around  a  stack  of  arms,  a  new  rifle 
in  his  hand,  the  flint  and  pan  of  which  he 
had  been  keenly  examining. 

He  lifted  his  eyes  suddenly  with  that 
long-lashed  dreary  look  of  his  childhood. 

"  Did  you  hear  of  any  Queetlees  in  Charles- 
town  ?  "  he  asked. 

66  It  is  you  who  should  seek  your  kindred, 
Jan  Queetlee  !  "  Varney  said  impulsively, 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  133 

calling  him  by  his  unaccustomed  English 
name.  "  It  is  you  who  should  go  to  Charles- 
town  to  find  the  Queetlees  !  " 

Otasite's  face  showed  suddenly  the  un 
wonted  expression  of  fear.  He  recoiled  ab 
ruptly,  and  Abram  Varney  was  sensible  of  a 
deep  depression.  It  was  as  he  had  thought. 
The  wish  for  restoration  to  those  of  his 
name  and  his  kindred  which  had  animated 
the  boy's  earlier  years  had  now  dwindled  to 
a  mere  abstract  sentiment  of  loyalty  as  of 
clanship,  but  was  devoid  of  expectation,  of 
intention.  All  the  members  of  his  imme 
diate  family  had  perished  in  the  massacre, 
and  he  had  been  trained  to  regard  this  as 
the  fortunes  of  war,  cherishing  no  personal 
antagonism,  as  elsewhere  among  civilized 
people  reconciliations  are  frequent  between 
the  victors  and  the  friends  of  the  slain  in 
battle.  Moreover,  he  was  not  brought  close 
to  it.  The  participators  in  the  affray  were 
of  the  distant  Ayrate  settlements  of  the 
tribe,  southeast  of  the  mountains,  and  not 
individualized.  The  Indians  of  Tennessee 
Town,  which  was  then  one  of  the  most  re 
mote  of  the  Cherokee  villages  of  the  Ottare 
division,  and  this  perhaps  was  the  reason 


134  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

it  was  selected  as  his  home,  were  not  con 
cerned  in  the  foray,  nor  were  any  others  o£ 
the  Overhill  towns.  Thus  he  had  grown 
up  without  the  thirst  for  vengeance,  which 
showed  how  little  the  methods  of  his  Cher 
okee  environment  had  influenced  his  heart. 
And  truly  the  far-away  Queetlees,  if  any 
such  were  cognizant  of  his  existence,  had 
troubled  themselves  nothing  about  it,  and 
had  infinitely  less  claim  on  his  gratitude  and 
filial  affection  than  Colannah.  They  had 
left  him  to  be  as  a  waif,  a  slave.  He  had 
been  reared  as  a  son,  nursed  and  tended,  fed 
and  fostered,  bedecked  in  splendor,  armed 
in  costly  and  formidable  wise,  given  com 
mand  and  station,  carefully  trained  in  all 
that  the  Indian  knew. 

"  Colannah  would  never  consent !  "  he 
said  at  last. 

Abram  Varney  afterward  wondered  why 
he  should  then  have  had  a  vision  —  oh,  so 
futile,  so  fleeting,  so  fantastic !  —  of  the 
twenty,  the  forty,  nay,  the  sixty  years  that 
this  man,  so  munificently  endowed  by  na 
ture,  might  pass  here  among  the  grotesque, 
uncouth  barbarities  of  the  savage  Chero 
kee,  while  his  heritage  —  his  religion,  the 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  135 

religion  into  which  he  was  born  of  Chris 
tian  parents,  his  name  and  nation,  his  tongue 
and  station,  his  opportunity  —  doubtless 
some  fair,  valid,  valuable  future  —  all  lay 
there  to  the  eastward  but  scant  five  hun 
dred  miles  away  on  the  Carolina  coast. 
He  said  as  much,  and  the  retort  came 
succinctly,  "  You  live  here  !  " 

Otasite's  English  speech  was  as  simple  as 
a  child's,  but  he  thought  as  diplomatically 
as  Colannah  himself,  whom  he  esteemed  the 
greatest  man  in  all  the  world,  and  he  could 
argue  in  the  strategic  Cherokee  method. 
Nevertheless,  to  give  him  full  sway,  that 
everything  possible  might  be  said  in  contra 
vention  of  the  proposition,  the  old  trader 
lapsed  into  the  Indian  speech,  that  was  in 
deed  from  long  usage  like  a  mother  tongue 
to  them  both.  He  stayed  here,  he  said,  from 
choice,  it  was  true,  but  for  the  sake  of  the 
trade  that  gave  him  wealth,  and  with  wealth 
he  could  return  to  the  colonies  at  any  time, 
and  go  whither  he  would  in  all  the  world. 
But  Otasite  was  restricted ;  he  had  no  goods 
for  trade,  no  adequate  capital  to  invest ;  he 
could  only  return  to  the  colonies  while 
young,  to  work,  to  make  a  way,  to  secure 


136  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

betimes  a  place  appropriate  to  his  riper 
years.  Even  this  could  not  be  done  without 
great  difficulty, — witness  how  many  settlers 
came  empty-handed  to  barely  exist  on  the 
frontier  and  wrest  a  reluctant  living  from 
the  wilderness,  —  and  it  could  not  be  done 
at  all  without  friends.  Now  he,  Abram  Var- 
ney,  was  prepared  to  stand  his  friend ; 
Otasite  could  take  a  place  in  the  service 
of  the  company,  in  the  main  depot  of  the 
trade  at  Charlestown.  His  knowledge  of 

o 

the  details  of  the  business  of  which  Abram 
Varney's  long  absences  had  given  him  ex 
perience  ;  of  the  needs  of  the  Cherokee  na 
tion  ;  of  the  ever-continued  efforts  of  the 
French  traders,  by  means  of  the  access  to 
the  Overhill  towns  afforded  by  the  Cherokee 
and  Tennessee  rivers,  despite  the  great  dis 
tance  from  their  settlements  on  the  Mis 
sissippi,  to  insinuate  their  supplies  at  lower 
prices,  in  the  teeth  of  the  Cherokee  treaty 
with  the  British  monopolizing  such  traffic, 
and  bring  down  profits  —  all  would  have  a 
special  and  recognized  value  and  be  appre 
ciated  by  his  mercantile  associates,  who 
would  further  the  young  man's  advance 
ment.  Thence  he  could  at  his  leisure  make 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  137 

inquiries  concerning  his  father's  family,  and 
doubtless  in  the  course  of  time  be  restored 
to  his  kindred. 

Otasite  listened  throughout  with  the  cour 
teous  air  of  deliberation  which  his  Indian 
training  required  him  to  accord  to  any  dis 
course,  without  interruption,  however  un 
welcome  or  trivial  it  might  be  esteemed. 
Then,  smiling  slowly,  he  shook  his  head. 

"You  cannot  be  serious,"  he  said.  "It 
would  break  old  Colannah's  heart,  who  has 
been  like  a  father  to  me." 

Abram  Varney  too  had  the  British  bull 
dog  tenacity.  "  What  will  you  do,  then," 
he  asked  slowly  and  significantly,  "when 
Colannah  takes  up  arms  against  the  British 
government?  Will  you  fight  men  of  your 
own  blood?" 

He  was  reinforced  in  this  argument  by 
the  habit  of  thought  of  the  Indians  —  the 
absolute  absence  of  tribal  dissensions,  of 
internecine  strife,  so  marked  among  the 
Cherokees :  here  no  man's  hand  was  lifted 
against  his  brother. 

Jan  Queetlee  palpably  winced.  Come 
what  might,  he  could  never  fight  for  the 
Cherokees  against  the  British  —  his  father's 


138  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

people,  his  mother's  people — no  more  than 
he  could  fight  for  the  British  against  his 
adopted  tribe  —  the  Cherokee  —  and  he  the 
"Man-killer!" 

"  They  will  fight  each  other/'  said  Var- 
ney  weightily,  "  and  the  day  is  not  far  — 
the  day  is  not  far  !  " 

For  in  1753  the  cumulative  discontents 
of  the  tribe  were  near  the  crisis,  earnestly 
fostered  by  the  French  on  the  western 
boundaries,  that  vast  domain  then  known 
as  Louisiana,  toward  whose  siren  voice  the 
Cherokees  had  ever  lent  a  willing  ear.  The 
building  by  the  British  government,  two  or 
three  years  later,  of  those  great  defensive 
works,  Fort  Prince  George  and  Fort  Loudon, 
situated  respectively  at  the  eastern  and 
western  extremities  of  the  Cherokee  ter 
ritory,  mounted  with  cannon  and  garri 
soned  by  British  forces,  served  to  hold 
them  in  check  and  quieted  them  for  a  time, 
but  only  for  a  time.  Jan  Queetlee,  by  rea 
son  of  his  close  association  with  the  chiefs, 
knew  far  more  than  Varney  dreamed  of 
the  bitterness  roused  in  the  hearts  of  the 
Indians  by  friction  with  the  government, 
the  aggressions  of  the  individual  colonist, 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  139 

the  infringements  of  their  privileges  in  the 
treaty,  and  in  opposition  the  influence  of 
the  ever  seductive  suavity  of  the  French. 

As  with  a  sudden  hurt,  Jan  Queetlee 
cried  out  with  a  poignant  voice  against  the 
government  and  its  patent  unfaith,  striking 
his  clinched  fist  so  heavily  on  the  head  of 
a  keg  of  powder  that  the  stout  fibres  of  the 
wood  burst  beneath  the  passionate  blow, 
and  in  a  moment  he  was  covered  with  the 
flying  particles  of  the  black  dust.  Kealizing 
the  possibility  of  an  explosion  should  a  can 
dle  or  a  pipe  be  lighted  here,  Varney  did 
not  wait  for  the  return  of  one  of  the  brawny 
packmen  to  remove  the  keg  to  a  cave  be 
neath  the  trading-house,  which  he  utilized 
for  storage  as  a  cellar,  but  addressed  himself 
to  the  job.  Jan  Queetlee  silently  assisted,  his 
face  darker,  more  lowering  with  the  thought 
in  his  mind  than  with  the  smears  of  the 
powder. 

Varney  remembered  this  afterward,  and 
that  he  himself,  diverted  by  the  accident 
from  the  trend  of  his  argument,  had  launched 
out  in  a  tirade  against  the  government  as 
they  worked  together,  the  young  Briton's 
energy,  industry,  and  persistence  so  at  va- 


140  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

riance  with  the  aspect  of  his  tufted  topknot 
of  feathers  on  his  auburn  curls,  and  the  big 
blue  warrior's  marks  on  his  broad  white 
chest.  For  Varney  too  had  his  grievances 
against  the  powers  that  were ;  but  his  woes 
were  personal.  He  vehemently  condemned 
the  reconciliation  which  the  government 
had  effected  between  the  Muscogees  and 
the  Cherokees,  for  although  there  were  more 
deerskins  to  be  had  for  export  when  the 
Indian  hunters  were  at  pacific  leisure,  Var 
ney  had  considered  the  recent  war  between 
these  tribes  an  admirable  vent  for  gun 
powder  and  its  profitable  sale ;  and  since 
the  savages  must  always  be  killing,  it  was 
manifestly  best  for  all  concerned  that  they 
should  kill  each  other.  He  could  not  suf 
ficiently  deride  the  happy  illustration  which 
Governor  Glen  had  given  them  (in  his 
fatuity,  Varney  thought)  of  the  values  of 
peace  and  concord.  In  the  presence  of  the 
two  delegations  the  mediating  Governor  had 
taken  an  arrow  and  shown  them  with  what 
ease  it  could  be  broken ;  then  how  impos 
sible  he  found  it  to  break  a  quiverful  of 
arrows,  thus  demonstrating  the  strength  in 
union.  Varney  argued  that  the  Indians 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  141 

would  readily  perceive  a  further  application 
of  the  principle  and  turn  it  to  account,  com 
bining*  against  the  colonists.  In  the  same 
spirit  he  animadverted  upon  a  monopoly 
from  which  he  was  excluded  in  common  with 
the  traders  in  general,  and  which  had  been 
granted  to  a  mercantile  company  seeking  to 
establish  posts  among  the  Choctaws.  The 
enterprise,  although  favored  by  the  govern 
ment,  obviously  because,  undertaken  on  a 
scale  of  phenomenal  magnitude,  it  promised 
to  dislodge  the  French  and  their  long-estab 
lished  trade  among  the  Choctaws,  and  bring 
that  powerful  tribe  to  a  British  allegiance, 
had  finally  proved  a  failure ;  and  with  a  bit 
ter  joy  in  this  fact  he  alternately  contemned 
and  pitied  the  government,  because  it  could 
not  wrest  this  valuable  opportunity  from 
the  iron  grasp  of  the  "  Mississippi  Lou- 
isianians."  He  had,  too,  a  censorious  word 
for  the  French  commercially  —  called  them 
"  peddlers,"  celebrated  their  deceitful  wiles, 
underrated  the  quality  of  their  cloths,  and 
inconsistently  berated  them  for  their  low 
prices,  finding  a  logical  parity  in  all  these 
matters  in  the  tenets  of  their  religion,  which 
they  had  so  vainly  and  so  zealously  sought 


142  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

to  instill  into  the  unreceptive  hearts  of  the 
unimpressionable  Choctaw.4 

With  the  plethora  of  interest  involved  in 
these  subjects,  Varney  grew  oblivious  of  the 
theme  that  had  earlier  occupied  his  mind. 
It  recurred  no  more  to  his  thoughts  until 
several  days  had  passed.  He  then  chanced 
to  be  occupied  with  his  new  goods  in  his 
cavern.  It  was  illumined  only  from  above ; 
there  was  a  trap-door  in  the  floor  of  the 
trading-house,  and  thence  a  pale  tempered 
light  drifted  down,  scarcely  convenient,  but 
sufficient  for  his  purposes.  Once  he  noticed 
that  a  shadow  flickered  across  it.  He  experi 
enced  a  momentary  surprise,  for  he  had  left 
no  one  in  the  building,  and  the  outer  door 
being  locked,  he  imagined  it  could  not  be 
forced  without  noise  enough  to  rouse  him. 
Again  the  shadow  flickered  across  the  trap 
door  ;  then  ensued  a  complete  eclipse  of 
the  scant  glimmer  of  light.  There  was  a 
step  upon  the  ladder  which  served  as  stair 
way  —  a  man  was  descending. 

Varney  felt  a  sudden  constriction  about 
his  throat.  He  realized  an  impending  crisis ; 
the  door  above  had  been  closed ;  by  the 
sound  he  knew  that  the  ladder  was  now  re- 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  143 

moved  and  laid  upon  the  ground.  He  had 
an  idea  —  he  could  see  naught  —  that  the 
unknown  invisible  man  had  seated  himself 
on  the  ladder  on  the  ground,  where  he  re 
mained  motionless,  silent,  in  anger,  in  grief, 
or  some  strange  savage  whim  hardly  possible 
for  a  civilized  creature  to  divine. 

The  time  that  passed  in  this  black  nul 
lity  —  he  never  could  compute  it  —  mo 
ments,  doubtless,  but  it  seemed  hours,  tried 
to  the  utmost  the  nerve  of  the  entrapped 
trader,  albeit  inured  by  twenty  years'  ex 
perience  to  the  capricious  temper  of  the 
Cherokee  Indians.  He  felt  he  could  better 
endure  the  suspense  could  he  only  see  his 
antagonist,  identify  him,  and  thus  guess 
his  purpose,  and  shape  his  own  course  from 
his  knowledge  of  character.  But  with  some 
acquired  savage  instinct  he,  too,  remained 
silent,  null,  passive ;  one  might  have  thought 
him  absent.  Perhaps  his  quiescence,  indeed, 
fostered  some  doubt  of  his  presence  here,  for 
suddenly  there  sounded  the  rasping  of  flint 
on  steel,  the  spunk  was  aglow,  and  then  in 
the  timorous  flame  of  the  kindling  candle, 
taken  from  his  own  stores  above,  Varney 
recognized  the  face  and  figure  of  the  stately 


144  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

and  imperious  old  chief  Colannah.  The  next 
moment  he  remembered  something  far  more 
pertinent.  He  called  out  in  an  agitated 
voice  to  the  Indian  to  beware  of  the  powder 
with  which  the  place  was  largely  stocked. 

"  I  came  for  that/'  said  Colannah  in  Cher 
okee,  with  unaccustomed  fingers  snuffing 
the  wick  as  he  had  seen  Varney  perform 
the  process,  for  the  Indians  used  torches 
and  fires  of  split  cane  for  purposes  of  illu 
mination. 

"  For  God's  sake,  what  have  I  done  ?  " 
cried  the  trader  in  an  agony  of  terror,  desir 
ous  to  bring  his  accusation  to  the  point  as 
early  as  might  be  and  compass  his  release, 
thus  forestalling  the  violent  end  of  an  ex 
plosion. 

"  What  do  the  English  always  ?  —  you 
have  robbed  me  !  "  said  Colannah,  the  light 
strong  on  his  fierce  indignant  features,  his 
garb  of  fringed  buckskin,  his  many  rich 
strings  of  the  ivory-like  roanoke  about  his 
neck,  his  gayly  bedecked  and  feathered  head, 
and  in  shadowy  wise  revealing  the  rough 
walls  of  the  cave,  the  boxes  and  bales  of 
goods,  the  reserve  stock,  as  it  were,  the  stands 
of  arms,  and  the  kegs  and  bags  of  powder. 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  145 

As  Varney,half  crouching  on  the  ground, 
noted  the  latter  in  the  dusk,  he  cried  out 
precipitately,  "  Bobbed  you  of  what  ?  My 
God  !  let  us  go  upstairs.  I  '11  give  it  back, 
whatever  it  is,  twice  over,  fourfold  !  Don't 
swing  the  candle  around  that  way,  Colan- 
nah  !  the  powder  will  blow  us  and  the  whole 
trading-house  into  the  Tennessee  Biver." 

Cola*hnah  nodded  acquiescence,  the  stately 
feathers  on  his  head  gleaming  fitfully  in 
the  clare-obscure  of  the  cavern.  "  That  is 
why  I  came  !  Then  the  British  government 
could  demand  no  satisfaction  for  the  life  of 
the  British  subject  —  an  accident  —  the 
old  chief  of  Tennessee  Town  killed  with 
him.  And  I  should  be  avenged." 

"For  what?  My  God!"  Varney  had 
not  before  called  upon  the  Lord  for  twenty 
years.  To  hold  a  diplomatic  conversation 
with  an  enraged  wild  Indian,  flourishing 
a  lighted  candle  in  a  powder  magazine, 
is  calculated  to  bring  even  the  most  self- 
sufficient  and  forgetful  sinner  to  a  sense 
of  his  dependence  and  helplessness.  The 
lighted  candle  was  a  more  subjugating 
weapon  than  a  drawn  sword.  He  had  con 
templated  springing  upon  the  stanch  old 


146  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

warrior,  although,  despite  the  difference  in 
age,  he  was  no  match  for  the  Indian,  in  or 
der  to  seek  to  extinguish  it.  He  reflected, 
however,  that  in  the  struggle  a  flaring  spark 
might  cause  the  ignition  of  scattered  parti 
cles  of  the  powder  about  the  floor,  and  thus 
precipitate  the  explosion  which  he  shuddered 
to  imagine.  "  For  what,  Colannah  ?  "  he 
asked  again,  in  a  soothing  smooth  cadence, 
"  for  what,  my  comrade,  my  benefactor  for 
years,  my  best-beloved  friend  —  avenged  on 
me  for  what  ?  Let 's  go  upstairs  !  " 

The  flicker  of  the  wavering  candle  showed 
a  smile  of  contempt  on  the  face  of  the  an 
gry  Indian  for  a  moment,  and  admonished 
Varney  that  in  view  of  the  Cherokees'  rel 
ish  of  the  torture  his  manifestations  of  anx 
iety  but  prolonged  his  jeopardy.  It  brought, 
too,  a  fuller  realization  of  the  gravity  of 
the  situation  in  that  the  Indian  should  so 
valiantly  risk  himself.  He  evidently  in 
tended  to  take  the  trader's  life,  but  in  such 
wise  that  no  vengeance  for  his  death  should 
fall  upon  the  Cherokee  nation.  Abram 
Varney  summoned  all  his  courage,  which 
was  not  inconsiderable,  and  had  been  culti 
vated  by  the  wild  and  uncertain  conditions 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  147 

of  his  life.  Assured  that  he  could  do  naught 
to  hasten  his  release,  he  awaited  the  event 
in  a  sort  of  stoical  patience,  dreading,  how 
ever,  every  motion,  every  sound,  the  least 
stir  setting  his  expectant  nerves  aquiver. 
Silence,  quiescence,  brought  the  disclosure 
earlier  than  he  had  feared. 

"  When  I  took  the  boy  Jan  Queetlee  — 
why  do  I  call  him  thus,  instead  of  by  the 
name  he  has  earned  for  himself,  the  noble 
Otasite  of  Tennessee  Town?" — the  old 
chief  began  as  deliberately,  as  disregardf ully 
of  the  surroundings  as  if  seated  under  the 
boughs  of  one  of  the  giant  oaks  on  the 
safe  slopes  of  Chilhowee  yonder  —  "  when 
I  took  him  away  from  the  braves  who  had 
overcome  the  South  Carolina  stationers, 
I  owed  him  no  duty.  He  was  puny  and 
ill  and  white  and  despised !  You  British 
say  the  Indian  has  no  pity.  A  man's  son 
or  brother  or  father  or  mother  has  claims 
upon  him.  Otasite  was  naught  to  me,  a 
mere  eeankke  !"  (a  captive).  "  I  owed  the 
child  no  duty.  My  love  was  voluntary.  I 
gave  it  a  free  gift ;  no  duty !  And  he  was 
little,  and  drooping,  and  meagre,  and  ill  all 
the  time  !  But  he  grew  ;  soon  no  such  boy 


148  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

in  the  Cherokee  nation,  soon  hardly  such  a 
warrior  in  all  the  land  —  not  even  Otasite 
of  Watauga,  nor  yet  Otasite  of  Eupharsee ; 
perhaps  at  his  age  Oconostota  excelled  " 
(Oconostota  always  was  preeminently  known 
as  the  "  Great  Warrior  ").  He  paused  to 
shake  his  head  and  meditate  on  difficult 
comparisons  and  instances  of  prowess.  Af 
ter  an  interval  which,  long  enough,  seemed 
to  the  trembling  trader  illimitable,  he  re 
commenced  abruptly  :  "  Says  the  Goweno 
long  time  ago  to  me,  '  Is  not  there  a  white 
youth  among  you  ?  '  I  say,  '  He  is  content ; 
he  has  no  white  friends,  it  seems.'  Says 
the  Goweno  to  me,  '  Ah,  ah,  we  must  look 
into  this  ! '  and  says  no  more." 

Colannah  flung  back  his  head  and  laughed 
so  long  and  so  loud  that  every  echo  of  the 
sarcastic  guttural  tones,  striking  back  from 
the  stone  walls  of  the  cavern,  smote  Varney 
with  as  definite  a  shock  as  a  blow. 

"  And  now,"  the  Cherokee  resumed,  with 
a  changed  aspect  and  a  pathetic  cadence, 
"I  am  an  old  man,  and  I  lean  upon  Ota 
site.  My  sons  are  all  dead  —  one  in  the 
wars  with  the  Muscogee  and  two  slain  by 
the  Chickasaw.  And  the  last  he  said  to  me, 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  149 

with  his  lingering  latest  breath,  loath  to  go 
and  leave  me  desolate,  'But  you  have  an 
adopted  son,  you  have  the  noble  Otasite.' 
And  now,"  his  voice  was  firm  again,  "if  I 
have  him  not,  I  go  too,  and  you  go.  We 
go  together." 

"  I  will  not  advise  him  to  quit  the  nation 
—  never  again !  "  cried  Varney,  suddenly 
enlightened,  fervently  repudiating  his  inter 
ference.  "  Since  you  disapprove,  he  shall 
not  return  to  Carolina.  He  cannot  go  with 
out  me  —  my  help;  he  could  not  find  a 
place  —  a  home.  Bold  and  fine  as  he  is 
here,  he  would  be  strange  there ;  he  knows 
naught  of  the  ways  of  the  colonists.  He 
would  be  poor,  despised,  while  here  he  has 
been  like  the  first,  the  best.  His  pride  could 
never  stoop  to  a  life  like  a  slave's ;  his  pride 
would  break  his  heart.  Let  me  undo  the 
mischief  I  have  wrought ;  let  me  unsay  the 
unthinking,  foolish  words  I  have  spoken." 

It  was  perhaps  with  the  faith  that  the 
artful  trader  could  best  turn  the  young 
fellow's  mind  back  to  its  wonted  content, 
as  his  crafty  arguments  had  already  so 
potently  aroused  this  wild,  new  dissatisfac 
tion,  that  Colannah  at  last  consented  to 


150  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

liberate  Varney  for  this  essay,  not  without 
a  cogent  reminder  that  he  would  be  held 
responsible  for  its  failure.  And  indeed  in 
recanting  his  former  urgency,  when  he 
sought  out  Otasite,  Varney  exerted  himself 
to  the  utmost. 

"  You  are  satisfied  here.  You  know  the 
life.  Like  me,  you  love  it.  If  I,  who  can 
choose,  prefer  it,  why  not  you  ?  " 

But  Otasite  shook  his  head. 

"  When  I  talk  to  you  of  the  colonies  I 
speak  as  a  man  does  of  a  dream,"  Varney 
continued.  "  It  is  something  true  and  some 
thing  false.  I  add  here  and  I  let  slip  there 
to  make  out  the  connection,  and  give  the 
symmetry  of  truth  to  the  picture.  But  did 
I  ever  tell  you  how  they  love  money  in  the 
colonies,  how  they  cheat  and  strive  and 
slave  their  lives  away  to  add  to  their  store ; 
how  they  reverence  and  worship  the  wealth 
of  others  till  it  seems  that  a  rich  man  can 
do  no  wrong  —  if  he  is  rich  enough  ?  Did 
I  ever  tell  you  this?  The  poor,  they  are 
despised  for  being  poor,  and  they  are  let  to 
suffer.  Here  poverty  is  not  permitted.  If 
a  man  lose  his  dwelling  by  fire,  the  town 
builds  him  another  house.  You  know  this. 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  151 

If  a  man  fail  in  his  winter  hunt,  the  oth 
ers  give  of  their  abundance.  Here  one  is 
rated  by  his  personal  worth.  Here  the  deed 
is  held  to  be  fine,  not  the  mere  thing. 
Here  you  are  valued  as  the  great  Otasite, 
and  all  men  give  you  honor  for  your  cour 
age.  There  you  are  Jan  Queetlee,  a  penni 
less  clod,  and  all  men  despise  you  and  pass 
you  by."  5 

But  again  Otasite  shook  his  head. 

It  was  no  spurious  flare  of  ambition,  in 
effectual,  illusory ;  no  discontented  yearn 
ing  for  a  different,  a  wider  life  that  the 
trader's  ill-advised  words  had  roused.  That 
sentiment  of  loyalty  to  the  British  govern 
ment,  which  had  never  sought  to  claim  Jan 
Queetlee  as  a  subject,  seemed  bred  in  his 
bone  and  born  in  his  blood.  Perhaps  it  was 
the  stuff  of  which  long  afterward  the  Tories 
of  the  Eevolution  were  made.  He  could  not 
lift  his  hand  against  this  aloof,  indifferent 
fetich.  And  yet  take  part  against  the 
Cherokees,  whom  he  loved  as  they  loved 
him  !  For  with  his  facilities  for  understand 
ing  the  trend  of  the  politics  of  the  day  he 
could  no  longer  blind  himself  to  the  ap 
proach  of  the  war  of  the  tribe  with  the 


152  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

British  government,  which,  indeed,  came 
within  the  decade.  The  sons  of  Colannah, 
slain  in  the  cruel  wars  with  other  Indians, 
had  been  to  him  like  brothers,  and  in  their 
loss  he  had  felt  his  full  and  bitter  share 
of  the  grief  of  a  common  household.  Even 
yet  he  and  Colannah  were  wont  to  sadly  talk 
of  them  with  that  painful  elimination  of 
their  names,  a  mark  of  Indian  reverence  to 
the  dead,  substituting  the  euphemism  "  the 
one  who  is  gone,"  and  linger  for  hours  over 
the  fire  at  night  or  on  the  shady  river-bank 
in  sunlit  afternoons,  rehearsing  their  deeds 
and  recalling  their  traits,  and  repeating 
their  sayings  with  that  blending  of  affec 
tionate  pride  and  sorrow  that  is  the  consola 
tion  of  bereavement  when  time  has  some 
what  softened  its  pangs  and  made  memory 
so  dear.  And  Colannah  had  been  like  a 
father  —  it  seemed  to  Jan  Queetlee  as  if  he 
had  had  no  other  father.  He  could  not  leave 
Colannah,  old,  desolate,  and  alone.  Yet  the 
war  was  surely  coming  apace,  as  they  both 
knew,  a  war  which  already  tore  his  heart  in 
sunder,  in  which  he  could  evade  taking  part 
against  his  own  —  his  own  of  both  factions 
—  only  by  going  at  once  and  going  far. 
He  could  decide  no  such  weighty  matter. 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  153 

At  last  he  determined  he  would  leave  it 
to  fate,  to  chance,  showing  how  truly  a 
gambler  his  Indian  training  had  made  him. 
He  would  stake  the  crisis  on  a  game  at 
chungke ;  i£  he  won,  as  he  told  Varney, 
he  would  go  to  Carolina,  and  take  sides 
with  neither  faction ;  if  he  lost,  he  would 
cast  his  future  with  the  Cherokee  nation. 

Varney,  thoroughly  uneasy,  had  come  to 
feel  a  personal  interest  involved.  If  Otasite 
quitted  the  country,  he  felt  his  life  would 
hardly  be  safe  here,  since  the  craft  of  Co- 
lannah  had  drawn  from  the  unsuspecting 
young  fellow  the  details  of  the  plan  of  re 
moval  to  Charlestown  which  he  had  pro 
posed.  And  yet  Varney  himself  was  averse 
to  any  change,  unless  it  was  indeed  neces 
sary.  When  put  to  the  test  he  felt  he  would 
rather  live  in  the  Cherokee  nation  than  any 
where  else  in  all  the  world,  and  he  valued 
his  commerce  with  the  tribe  and  his  license 
from  the  government,  under  duly  approved 
bond  and  security,  to  conduct  that  traffic  in 
Tennessee  Town  and  Tellico  as  naught  else 
on  earth.  He  manifested  so  earnest  and  gen 
uine  a  desire  to  repair  the  damage  of  his  ill- 
starred  suggestion  that  Colannah,  showing 


154  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

his  age  in  his  haste  and  his  tremulousness  and 
excitement,  disclosed  to  him  in  a  flutter  of  tri 
umphant  glee  that  he  had  a  spell  to  work 
which  naught  could  withstand  —  a  draught 
from  Herbert's  Spring  to  offer  to  Otasite. 
Thither  some  fifty  miles  he  had  dispatched 
a  runner  for  a  jar  of  the  magic  water,  and 
after  drinking  of  it  Otasite  could  not  quit 
for  seven  years  the  Cherokee  nation  even  if 
he  would. 

It  was  in  the  council-house  that  the  mys 
tic  beverage  was  quaffed.  There  had  been 
guests  —  head  men  from  Great  Tellico  and 
Citico  —  during  the  afternoon,  received  in 
secret  conclave,  and  now  that  their  deliber 
ations  were  concluded  and  they  were  gone, 
Otasite,  not  admitted  to  the  council,  being 
one  of  those  warriors  who  did  the  fighting 
of  the  battles  devised  by  the  "  beloved  men," 
strolled  into  the  deserted,  dome-like  place. 
Its  walls,  plastered  with  red  clay,  were  yet 
more  ruddy  for  a  cast  of  the  westering  sun. 
The  building  was  large  enough  to  accommo 
date  several  hundred  people,  and  around 
the  walls  were  cane  seats,  deftly  constructed 
and  artificially  whitened,  making,  according 
to  an  old  writer,  "  very  genteel  settees  or 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  155 

couches."  Tired  with  the  stress  of  mental 
depression  and  anxiety  as  physical  effort 
could  not  tame  him,  and  vaguely  prescient 
of  evil,  Otasite  had  flung  himself  down  on 
one  of  these,  which  was  spread  with  dressed 
panther-skins,  his  hands  clasped  under  his 
head,  his  scalp-lock  of  two  auburn  curls 
dangling  over  them. 

Through  the  tall  narrow  doorway  the  au 
tumnal  landscape  was  visible,  blazing  with 
all  the  fervors  of  summer ;  the  mountains, 
however,  were  more  softly  blue,  the  sunlight 
of  a  richer  glister ;  the  river,  now  steel,  now 
silver,  now  amber,  reflected  the  atmosphere 
as  a  sensitive  soul  reflects  the  moods  of  those 
most  dear ;  the  forests,  splendid  with  color, 
showed  the  lavish  predominance  of  the  rich 
reds  characteristic  of  the  Chilhowee  woods ; 
a  dreamlike  haze  over  all  added  a  vague 
ideality  that  made  the  scene  like  some  fond 
est  memory  or  a  glamourous  forecast. 

"  Akoo-e-a  !  "  (summer  yet !)  said  Colan- 
nah,  his  eyes  too  on  the  scene,  as  he  sat  on 
a  buffalo-rug  in  the  centre  of  the  floor  draw 
ing  in  the  last  sweet  fragrant  breaths  from 
his  long-stemmed  pipe,  curiously  wrought 
of  stone,  for  in  the  manufacture  of  these 


156  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

pipes  the  Cherokees  of  that  day  were  said  to 
excel  all  other  Indians.  The  young  Briton 
experienced  no  mawkish  pang  to  note  that 
it  was  ornamented  at  one  end  by  a  dang 
ling  scalp,  greatly  treasured,  the  interior  of 
the  skin  painted  red  for  its  preservation. 
He  had,  in  fact,  a  pipe  of  his  own  with  a 
scalp  much  like  it.  Indeed,  his  trophy  was 
a  fine  specimen,  and  it  had  been  a  feat  to 
take  it,  for  it  had  once  covered  a  hot  Chick- 
asaw  head. 

"  Akoo-e-a!  the  day  is  warm  ! "  remarked 
Colannah.  He  lifted  his  storied  pipe,  and 
with  its  long  stem  silently  motioned  to  a 
young  Indian  woman,  indicating  a  great  jar 
of  water.  She  quickly  filled  one  of  those 
quaint  bowls,  or  cups,  of  the  Cherokee  man 
ufacture,  and  advanced  with  it  to  Otasite ; 
but  the  proffer  was  in  the  nature  of  an  in 
terruption  of  his  troubled  thoughts,  and  he 
irritably  waved  her  away. 

"  I  am  displeased  with  you,"  said  Colan 
nah  sternly,  lifting  his  dark,  deeply  sunken 
eyes  to  where  the  "  Man-killer  "  lay  at  full 
length  on  the  cane  settee.  "  You  set  me 
aside.  You  have  no  thoughts  for  me  —  no 
words.  Yet  you  can  talk  when  you  go  to 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  157 

the  trading-house.  You  have  words  and  to 
spare  for  the  trader.  You  can  drink  with 
him.  You  can  sing,  f  Drink  with  me  a  cup 
of  wine.' '  He  lifted  his  raucous  old  voice 
in  ludicrous  travesty  of  the  favorite  catch, 
for  sometimes  the  two  Britons,  so  incongru 
ous  in  point  of  age,  education,  sentiment, 
and  occupation,  cemented  their  bond  as 
compatriots  by  carousing  together  in  a  mild 
way. 

But  this  ebullition  of  temper  had  naught 
of  the  ludicrous  in  Jan  Queetlee's  estima 
tion.  He  was  pierced  to  the  heart. 

"Aketohta!"  (Father!)  he  cried  re 
proachfully.  He  had  sprung  to  his  feet,  and 
stood  looking  down  at  the  old  chief,  who 
would  not  look  at  him,  but  kept  his  eyes  on 
the  landscape  without,  now  and  then  draw 
ing  a  long,  lingering  whiff  from  his  pipe. 
"  Aketohta  !  /have  no  thought  for  you  !  — 
who  alone  have  taken  thought  for  me  /  / 
have  words  for  the  trader  and  silence  for 
you  !  You  say  keen  things,  and  you  know 
they  are  not  true !  You  know  that  I  had 
rather  drink  water  with  you  than  wine  with 
him.  I  am  not  thirsty ;  but  since  it  is  you 
who  offer  it "  —  His  expression  changed ; 


158  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

he  broke  into  sudden  pleasant  laughter,  and 
with  a  rollicking  stave  of  the  song,  "  Drink 
with  me  a  cup  of  wine,"  he  caught  the  bowl 
from  the  girl's  hand  and  drained  it  at  a 
draught. 

" Seohsta-quo!"  (Good! )  cried  Colannah, 
visibly  refreshed,  as  if  his  own  thirst  were  vi 
cariously  slaked.  But  Otasite  stood  blankly 
staring,  the  bowl  motionless  in  his  hand. 
"  It  is  well  for  wine  to  be  old,"  he  said 
wonderingly,  "  but  not  water." 

For  his  palate  was  accustomed  to  the  ex 
quisite  sparkle  and  freshness  of  the  moun 
tain  fountains,  and  this  had  come  from  far. 

The  crafty  Colannah  stolidly  repressed  his 
delight,  save  for  the  glitter  in  his  eyes  fixed 
on  the  azure  and  crimson  and  silver  landscape 
glimmering  beyond  the  dusky  portals  of  the 
terra-cotta  walls.  "  Nawohti  !  nawohti  !  " 
(Rum ! )  he  said,  with  an  affectation  of  sever 
ity.  "  You  drink  too  much  of  the  trader's 
strong  physic  !  You  have  no  love  now  for 
the  sweet,  clear  water."  And  he  shook  his 
head  with  the  uncompromising  reproof  of 
a  mentor  of  present  times  as  he  growled 
disjointedly,  "  Nawohti  !  nawohti !  " 

Otasite  nothing  questioned  the  genuine- 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  159 

ness  of  this  demonstration,  for  the  Cherokee 
rulers,  in  common  with  those  of  other  tribes, 
had  long  waged  a  vigorous  opposition  to  the 
importation  of  strong  drink  into  their  coun 
try  ;  indeed,  as  far  back  as  1704,  when  hold 
ing  a  solemn  conference  with  Governor 
Daniel  of  North  Carolina  to  form  a  general 
treaty  of  friendship,  the  chiefs  of  several 
tribes  petitioned  the  government  of  the 
Lords  Proprietors  for  a  law,  which  was  after 
ward  enacted  (and  disregarded),  forbidding 
any  white  man  to  sell  or  give  rum  to  an 
Indian,  and  prescribing  penalties  for  its  in 
fringement.  It  was  not  the  first  time  that 
Otasite  had  heard  unfavorably  of  the  influ 
ences  of  "  nawohti,"  which,  by  the  way,  with 
the  Cherokees  signified  physic,  as  well  as 
spirituous  liquor,  a  synonymous  definition 
which  more  civilized  people  have  sought 
to  apply.  He  was  content  that  he  and  the 
old  chief  were  once  more  in  affectionate  ac 
cord,  and  he  did  not  seek  to  interpret  the 
flash  of  triumph  in  Colannah's  face. 

For  seven  years  !  for  seven  years !  the 
white  "  Man-killer"  could  not,  if  he  would, 
quit  the  Cherokee  country.  Well  might  the 
old  chief's  eyes  glisten  !  The  youth  was 


160  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

like  a  son  to  his  lonely  age,  and  Otasite's 
prowess  the  pride  of  his  life.  And  like 
others  elsewhere  he  had  softened  as  age 
came  on,  and  loved  the  domestic  fireside 
and  the  companionship  about  the  hearth, 
hearing  without  participating  in  the  hilari 
ous  talk  of  the  young,  and  looking  out  at 
the  world  through  the  eyes  of  the  new  gen 
eration,  undaunted,  expectant,  aglow  with  a 
spirit  that  had  long  ago  smouldered  in  his 
own ;  for  the  fierce  Indian  at  the  last  was 
but  an  old  man. 

Abram  Varney,  too,  experienced  a  recur 
rence  of  ease.  He  had  unwittingly  imbibed 
much  outlandish  superstition  in  his  resi 
dence  among  the  Cherokees,  and  indeed 
other  traders  and  settlers  long  believed  in 
the  enchaining  fascination  of  Herbert's 
Spring,  and  drank  or  refrained  as  they 
would  stay  or  go. 

Otasite,  however,  was  all  unaware  of  the 
spell  cast  upon  him  when  he  came  into  the 
chungke-yard  the  next  day,  arrayed  in  his 
finest  garb,  the  white  dressed  doeskin  glit 
tering  in  the  sun,  his  necklaces  of  beads,  his 
belt  of  wolf  fangs,  his  flying  feet  in  their 
white  moccasins  —  all  catching  the  light 
with  a  differing  effect  of  brilliancy. 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  161 

Varney  watched  him ;  —  with  the  two 
eagle  feathers  stiff  and  erect  on  his  proud 
head,  his  two  incongruous  long  auburn  curls, 
that  did  duty  as  a  "  war-lock/'  floating  back 
ward  in  the  breeze,  he  ran  so  deftly,  so 
swiftly,  with  so  assured  and  so  graceful  a 
gait  that  the  mere  observation  of  such  sym 
metrical  motion  was  a  pleasure.  The  trader 
had  scarcely  a  pulse  of  anxiety.  Indeed,  dis 
ingenuously  profiting  by  the  tip  afforded  by 
Herbert's  Spring,  he  was  heavily  backing 
Wyejah  as  a  winner  ! 

A  windy  day  it  was ;  the  clouds  raced 
through  the  sky,  and  their  shadows  skim 
ming  over  the  valleys  and  slopes  challenged 
their  speed.  The  Tennessee  River  was  sing 
ing,  singing  !  The  mountains  were  as  clearly 
and  definitely  blue  as  the  heavens.  That 
revelation  of  ranges  on  the  far  horizon 
unaccustomed  to  the  view,  only  vouchsafed 
by  some  necromancy  of  the  clarified  autum 
nal  air,  never  before  seemed  so  distinct,  so 
alluring  —  new  lands,  new  hopes,  new  life 
they  suggested.  Wyejah's  scarlet  attire,  its 
fringes  tasseled  with  the  spurs  of  the  wild 
turkey,  rendered  his  lithe  figure  strongly 
marked  against  these  illusory  ethereal  tints 


162  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

as  he  sped  abreast  with  Otasite  along  the 
level  sandy  stretch  of  the  chungke-yard. 
And  how  well  he  played  !  Varney  realized 
this  with  a  satisfaction  as  of  having  already 
won  his  wagers,  many  and  large,  for  Otasite 
would  leave  the  nation  should  he  be  victo 
rious,  and  having  drunk  unwittingly  of  Her 
bert's  Spring,  he  could  not  quit  the  Chero 
kee  country,  although  he  himself  was  still 
unaware  of  having  quaffed  of  those  mystic 
waters.  Therefore  defeat  was  obviously  his 
portion.  "Whenever  the  trader  thought  anew 
of  his  secret  knowledge  of  this  fact  he  of 
fered  odds  on  Wyejah,  and  glanced  at  him 
with  approbation  — at  the  young  Indian 
warrior's  face  fiercely,  eagerly  smiling,  his 
great  flattened  ears  distended  on  their  wire 
hoops,his  dark  eyes  full  of  sombre  brilliance. 
How  well  he  played  !  and  how  hard  the  skill 
of  his  opponent  pressed  him  !  How  accurate 
was  the  aim  of  the  long  lance  of  Otasite  as 
he  poised  his  weight  on  the  supple  tips  of 
his  white  moccasins  and  hurled  the  missile 
through  the  air ;  how  strong  and  firm  his 
grasp  that  sent  the  circular,  quartz  chungke- 
stone,  whirling  along  the  sand;  how  tire 
lessly  his  long  sinewy  steps  sped  back  and 


A  VICTOE  AT  CHUNGKE  163 

forth  in  the  swift  dashes  up  and  down  the 
smooth  spaces  of  the  chungke-yard  ;  how 
faithfully  he  was  doing  his  best,  regardless 
of  his  own  preference  in  the  interests  that 
he  had  adventured  on  the  result !  How  like  a 
Briton  born  it  was,  Abram  Varney  thought, 
for  he  alone  knew  of  Otasite's  resolution, 
and  the  significance  of  the  game  to  him, 
that  the  boy  could  thus  see  fair  play  between 
the  factions  that  warred  within  him  for  his 
future.  He  had  staked  the  future  on  the 
event,  —  and  suddenly  it  was  the  present ! 

A  wild  clamor  of  excitement,  of  applause, 
rose  up  from  the  throats  of  the  crowd  in  the 
natural  amphitheatre,  clanging  and  clatter 
ing  in  long  guttural  cries,  —  all  intensi 
fied  by  a  relish  of  the  unexpected,  a  joy  in  a 
new  sensation,  for  Wyejah  had  never  before 
been  beaten,  and  Otasite  was  the  victor  at 
chungke. 

Abram  Varney  felt  his  heart  leap  into 
his  throat,  then  sink  like  lead  ;  Colannah, 
triumphant,  knowing  naught  of  the  subtler 
significance  of  the  contest,  joyful,  aglow 
with  pride,  rose  up  in  his  splendid  feathered 
mantle,  standing  high  on  the  slope,  to  sign 
to  the  boy  his  pleasure  in  the  victory.  The 


164  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

sunlight  fell,  glittering  very  white,  on  the 
young  fellow's  doeskin  garb,  his  prickly 
belt  of  fangs,  his  bare  chest  with  the  blue 
warrior's  marks,  the  curls  of  his  auburn 
scalp-lock  tossing  in  the  wind.  He  had 
seemed  hitherto  stoical,  unmoved  by  victory 
as  he  would  have  appeared  in  defeat ;  but 
Varney,  eager  to  get  at  him,  to  combat  his 
resolution,  knew  that  he  was  stunned  by  the 
complications  presented  by  this  falling  out 
of  the  event.  He  visibly  faltered  as  his  eye 
met  the  triumph  and  affection  expressed  in 
Colannah's  quivering  old  face.  He  could 
not  respond  to  its  congratulation.  He 
dropped  on  one  knee  suddenly,  bending 
low,  affecting  to  find  something  amiss  with 
one  of  his  moccasins. 

Wyejah,  too,  could  seem  unmoved  by  vic 
tory,  but  indifference  to  defeat  was  more 
difficult  to  simulate.  He  had  in  the  first 
moment  of  its  realization  felt  the  blood  rush 
to  his  head ;  despite  his  strong  nerve  his 
hand  trembled ;  the  smile  of  placidity  which 
it  was  a  point  of  honor  to  preserve  became 
a  fixed  grin.  Several  other  young  braves 
had  come  into  the  yard,  and  were  idly  toss 
ing  the  lance  at  the  great  chungke-pole  — 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  165 

as  a  billiardist  of  the  civilized  life  of  that 
day  might  pocket  the  balls  with  a  purpose 
less  cue  after  a  match.  Wyejah,  too,  had  cast 
his  lance  aslant ;  then  he  idly  hurled  the 
chungke-stone  with  a  muscular  fling  along 
the  spaces  of  the  white  sand.  His  nerve  was 
shaken,  his  aim  amiss,  his  great  strength  de 
flected.  The  heavy  discoidal  quartz  stone 
skimmed  through  the  air  above  the  stretch 
of  sand,  and  striking  with  its  beveled  edge 
the  kneeling  figure  on  the  temple,  the 
future  of  the  victor  at  chungke  became  in 
one  moment  the  past. 

The  trader  could  only  have  likened  the 
scene  that  ensued  to  the  moment  of  an 
earthquake  or  some  other  stupendous  con 
vulsion  of  nature.  In  the  midst  of  the 
confusion,  the  wild  cries,  the  swift  run 
ning  figures,  the  surging  of  the  crowds  into 
the  chungke-yard  that  obliterated  the  wide 
glare  of  the  sun  on  the  white  sand,  he 
made  good  his  escape.  He  knew  enough  of 
the  trend  of  Cherokee  thought  to  be  pre 
scient  of  the  fate  of  the  scapegoat.  Colan- 
nah  in  the  first  burst  of  grief  he  knew 
would  blame  himself  that  he  should  have 
tempted  fate  by  the  mystic  draught  from 


166  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

Herbert's  Spring  to  hold  here  that  bright 
young  form  for  seven  years  longer.  How 
sadly  true  !  —  for  seven  years  Otasite  would 
remain,  and  seven  to  that,  and,  alack,  seven 
more,  and  forever  !  Soon,  however,  the  natu 
ral  impulses  of  the  Indian's  temper,  intensi 
fied  by  long  cultivation,  would  be  reasserted. 
He  would  cast  about  for  revenge,  remem 
bering  the  first  suggestion  of  the  departure 
of  Otasite,  and  from  whom  it  had  ema 
nated.  But  for  the  English  trader  and  his 
specious  wiles,  the  old  chief  would  argue, 
would  Otasite  have  thought  of  forsaking  his 
foster  nation,  his  adopted  father,  for  the 
selfish,  indifferent  British,  the  "Goweno" 
at  Charlestown,  who  cared  for  him  nothing  ? 
The  trader  it  was  who  had  brought  this 
calamity  upon  them,  who  had  in  effect,  by 
the  hand  of  another,  administered  the  fatal 
draught.  Seek  for  him  !  —  hale  him  forth  ! 
—  wreak  upon  him  the  just,  unappeasable 
vengeance  of  the  forever  bereaved  ! 

The  old  trader  had  evinced  an  instinct 
in  flight  and  concealment  that  an  animal 
might  envy.  No  probable  hiding-place  he 
selected,  such  as  might  be  known  or  di 
vined —  a  cave,  the  attic  of  his  trading- 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  167 

house,  the  cellar  beneath  —  all  obvious,  all 
instantly  explored.  Instead,  he  slipped  into 
a  rift  in  the  rocks  along  the  river-bank. 
Myriads  of  such  crevices  there  were  in  the 
tilted  strata  —  unheeded,  unremarked,  too 
strait  and  restricted  to  suggest  the  idea  of 
refuge,  too  infinitely  numerous  for  search. 
There,  unable  in  the  narrow  compass  to 
turn,  even  to  shift  a  numbing  muscle  of 
his  lean  old  body,  in  all  the  constraint  of  a 
standing  posture,  he  was  held  in  the  flex 
ure  of  the  rock  like  some  of  its  fossils,  — 
as  unsuspected  as  a  ganoid  of  the  days  of 
eld  that  had  once  been  imprisoned  thus  in 
the  sediment  of  seas  that  had  long  ebbed 
hence,  —  or  the  fern  vestiges  in  a  later  for 
mation  finding  a  witness  in  the  imprint  in 
the  stone  of  the  symmetry  of  its  fronds.  He 
listened  to  the  hue  and  cry  for  him ;  then 
to  the  sudden  tramp  of  hoofs  as  a  pursuing 
party  went  out  to  overtake  him,  presumably 
on  his  way  to  Charlestown,  maintaining  a 
very  high  rate  of  speed,  for  the  Cherokees 
of  that  period  had  some  famously  fine 
horses. 

Straining    his    senses  —  all    unnaturally 
alert  —  he  distinguished,  as  the  afternoon 


168  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

wore  on,  the  details  of  the  preparations 
for  the  barbarous  sepulture  of  the  young 
Briton.  Now  and  then  the  cracking  of 
rifle-shots  betokened  the  shooting  of  his 
horses  and  cattle  and  all  the  living  things 
among  his  possessions  —  a  practice  already 
in  its  decadence  among  the  Cherokees,  and 
later,  influenced  by  the  utilitarian  methods 
of  civilization,  altogether  abandoned.  Swift 
steps  here  and  there  throughout  the  town 
intimated  errands  to  gather  all  his  choicest 
effects  to  be  buried  with  him,  for  his  future 
use.  To  this  custom,  it  is  said,  and  the  great 
security  of  the  fashioning  of  the  sepulchres 
of  the  Cherokees,  may  be  attributed  the  fact 
that  little  of  their  pottery,  arms,  beads,  med 
als,  the  more  indestructible  of  their  personal 
possessions,  can  be  found  in  this  region 
where  so  lately  they  were  a  numerous  peo 
ple  ;  for  the  effects  of  the  dead,  however 
valued,  were  never  removed  or  the  graves 
robbed,  even  by  an  Indian  enemy.  The 
Cherokees  rarely  permitted  the  presence  of 
an  alien  at  the  ceremonies  of  the  interment  of 
one  of  the  tribe ;  but  Varney  in  times  past 
had  seen  and  heard  enough  to  realize,  with 
out  any  definite  effort  of  the  imagination, 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  169 

how  Otasite,  arrayed  in  his  most  gorgeous 
apparel,  his  beautiful  English  face  painted 
vermilion,  would  be  placed  in  a  sitting  pos 
ture  in  front  of  his  house,  and  there  in  the 
sunlit  afternoon  remain  for  a  space,  looking 
in,  as  it  were,  at  the  open  door.  Presently 
sounded  the  wild  lamentations  and  melan 
choly  cadences  of  the  funeral  song ;  the 
tones  rose  successively  from  a  deep  bass  to 
a  tenor,  then  to  a  shrill  treble,  falling  again 
to  a  full  bass  chorus,  with  the  progression 
of  the  mystic  syllables,  "  Yah  !  Yo-he-ioah  ! 
Yah!  Yo-he-wah!  "  (said  to  signify  "  Jeho 
vah  ").  This  announced  that  the  funeral 
procession,  bearing  the  body,  was  going 
thrice  around  the  house  of  the  dead,  where 
he  had  lived  in  familiar  happiness  these 
many  years,  and  beneath  which  he  would 
rest  in  solemn  silence  in  his  deep,  deep 
grave,  covered  with  heavy  timbers  and  many 
layers  of  bark,  and  the  stanch  red  clay,  main 
taining  a  sitting  posture,  and  facing  the 
east,  while  the  domestic  life  of  homely  cheer 
would  go  on  over  his  unheeding  head  as  he 
awaited  the  distant  and  universal  resurrec 
tion  of  the  body,  in  which  the  Cherokee  re 
ligion  inculcated  a  full  and  firm  faith. 


170  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

The  sun  went  down,  and  through  all  the 
night  sounded  the  plaints  of  grief.  Late  the 
moon  rose,  striking  aslant  on  the  melan 
choly  Tennessee  River,  full  of  deep  shad 
ows  and  vaguely  pathetic  pallid  glimmers. 
A  wind  sprang  up  for  a  time,  then  suddenly 
sank  to  silence  and  stillness.  A  frost  fell 
with  a  keen  icy  chill.  Mists  gathered,  and 
the  day  did  not  break,  —  it  seemed  as  if  it 
might  never  dawn  again ;  only  a  pallid  visi 
bility  came  gradually  upon  clouds  that  had 
enshrouded  all  the  world.  The  earth  and 
the  sky  were  alike  indistinguishable ;  the 
mountains  were  as  valleys,  the  valleys  as 
plains.  One  might  scarcely  make  shift  to 
see  a  hand  before  the  face.  Through  this 
white  pall,  this  cloud  of  nullity,  came  ever 
the  dolorous  chant, "  Yo-he-ta-wah  !  Yo-he- 
ta-weh  !  Yo-he-ta-hah  !  Yo-he-ta-heh  !  "  as 
in  their  grief  and  poignant  bereavement  the 
ignorant  and  barbarous  Indians  called  upon 
the  God  who  made  them,  and  He  who  made 
them  savages  doubtless  heard  them. 

Creeping  out  into  the  invisibility  of  the 
clouded  day,  Abram  Varney  had  not  great 
fear  of  detection.  The  mists  that  shielded 
him  from  view  furthered  still  his  flight,  for 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  171 

his  footsteps  were  hardly  to  be  distin 
guished  amidst  the  continual  dripping  of 
the  moisture  from  the  leaves  of  the  dank 
autumnal  woods.  At  night  he  knew  the 
savages  would  be  most  on  the  alert.  They 
would  scarcely  suspect  his  flight  in  the 
broad  day.  Moreover,  their  suspicions  of 
his  presence  here  were  lulled ;  craftily 
enough  he  followed  after  the  horsemen  who 
fancied  they  were  pursuing  him  —  they 
would  scarcely  look  for  their  quarry  hard 
on  their  own  heels.  He  experienced  no 
sentiment  but  one  of  intense  satisfaction 
when,  as  invisible  as  a  spirit,  he  passed  his 
own  trading-house,  and  divined  from  the 
sounds  within  that  the  Indians  were  busy 
in  sacking  it,  albeit  a  greater  financial  loss 
than  seems  probable  at  the  present  day ; 
for  the  Indian  trade  was  a  very  consider 
able  commerce,  as  the  accounts  of  those 
times  will  show.  The  English  and  French 
governments  did  not  disdain  to  compete  for 
its  monopoly  with  various  nations  of  In 
dians,  for  the  sake  of  gaining  control  of 
the  savages  thereby,  in  view  of  supplies  fur 
nished  by  the  white  traders  vending  these 
commodities  and  resident  in  the  tribes. 


172  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

Recollections  of  the  items  and  values  of 
his  invoices,  afflicting  to  Varney's  commer 
cial  spirit,  threaded  his  consciousness  only 
when  again  safe  in  Charlestown.  He  reached 
that  haven  at  last  by  the  exercise  of  great 
good  judgment.  He  realized  that  another 
party  would  presently  be  sent  out  when  no 
news  of  capture  came  from  the  earlier  pur 
suers  ;  he  divined  that  the  second  expedition 
would  take  the  Chickasaw  path,  for  being 
friendly  to  the  British,  that  tribe  would 
naturally  be  thought  of  as  a  refuge  to  an 
Englishman  in  trouble  with  the  Cherokees ; 
therefore  Varney,  lest  he  be  overtaken  on 
the  way,  avoided  with  a  great  struggle  the 
temptation,  mustered  all  his  courage,  and 
adopting  an  unprecedented  expedient, 
turned  off  to  the  country  of  the  Muscogees. 
These  Indians,  always  more  or  less  in 
imical  to  the  colonists,  bloodthirsty,  cruel, 
crafty,  and  but  recently  involved  in  a  furious 
war  against  the  Cherokees,  were  glad  to 
thwart  Colannah  in  any  cherished  scheme 
of  revenge,  and  received  the  fugitive  kindly. 
Although  but  for  this  fact  his  temerity  in 
venturing  among  them  would  have  cost 
him  his  life,  they  ministered  to  his  needs 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  173 

with  great  hospitality,  and  forwarded  him 
on  his  way  to  Charlestown,  sending  a  strong 
guard  with  him  as  far  as  Long  Cane  settle 
ment,  a  little  above  Ninety-Six. 

Wyejah  also  made  his  escape.  Appalled 
by  the  calamity  of  the  accidental  blow,  he 
"  took  sanctuary."  In  the  supreme  moment 
of  excitement  he  flung  himself  into  the  Ten 
nessee  Kiver,  and  while  eagerly  sought  by 
the  emissaries  of  Colannah  in  the  woods,  he 
swam  to  Chote,  "  beloved  town,"  the  city 
of  refuge  of  the  whole  Cherokee  nation, 
where  the  shedder  of  blood  was  exempt 
from  vengeance.  As  years  went  by,  how 
ever,  either  because  of  the  death  of  Colan 
nah,  or  because  time  had  so  far  softened 
the  bereavement  of  the  friends  of  Otasite 
that  they  were  prevailed  upon  to  accept  the 
"  satisfaction,"  the  presents  required  even 
from  an  involuntary  homicide,  he  was  evi 
dently  freed  from  the  restricted  limits  of 
the  "  ever-sacred  soil,"  for  his  name  is  re 
corded  in  the  list  of  warriors  who  went  to 
Charlestown  in  1759  to  confer  with  Gov 
ernor  Lyttleton  on  the  distracted  state  of 
the  frontier,  and  being  held  as  one  of  the 
hostages  of  that  unlucky  embassy,  he  per- 


174  A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE 

ished  in  the  massacre  of  the  Cherokees  by 
the  garrison  of  Fort  Prince  George,  after 
the  treacherous  murder  of  the  commandant, 
Captain  Coytmore,  by  a  ruse  of  the  Indian 
king,  Oconostota. 

Abram  Varney  never  ventured  back 
among  "  the  Nation/'  as  he  called  the  Cher 
okees,  as  if  they  were  the  only  nation  on 
the  earth.  Now  and  again  in  their  frequent 
conferences  with  the  Governor  at  Charles- 
town,  rendered  necessary  by  their  ever-recur 
rent  friction  with  the  British  government,  he 
sought  out  members  of  the  delegation  for 
some  news  of  his  old  friends,  his  old  haunts. 
Not  one  of  them  would  take  his  hand;  not 
one  would  hear  his  voice ;  they  looked  be 
yond  him,  through  him,  as  if  he  were  the 
impalpable  atmosphere,  as  if  he  did  not 
exist. 

It  was  a  little  thing, — the  displeasure  of 
such  men  —  mere  savages,  —  but  it  cut  him 
to  the  heart.  So  long  they  had  been  his 
friends,  his  associates,  as  the  chief  furni 
ture  of  the  world  ! 

He  busied  himself  with  the  affairs  of  his 
firm  at  Charlestown,  but  for  a  time  he  was 
much  changed,  much  cast  down,  for  he  had 


A  VICTOR  AT  CHUNGKE  175 

a  sense  of  responsibility,  and  his  conscience 
was  involved,  and  although  he  had  sought 
to  do  good  he  had  only  wrought  harm,  and 
irreparable  harm.  He  grew  old  very  fast, 
racked  as  he  was  by  rheumatism,  a  continual 
reminder  of  the  stern  experiences  of  his 
flight.  He  had  other  reminders  in  his  un 
quiet  thoughts,  but  he  grew  garrulous  at  a 
much  later  date.  Years  intervened  before 
he  was  wont  to  sit  in  front  of  the  ware 
house,  with  his  stick  between  his  knees,  his 
hands  clasped  on  the  round  knob  at  its  top, 
his  chin  on  his  hands,  and  cheerily  chirp  of 
his  days  in  "  the  Nation."  The  softening 
touch  of  time  brought  inevitably  its  gla 
mours  and  its  peace ;  his  bleared  old  eyes, 
fixed  on  the  glittering  expanse  of  the  har 
bor,  beheld  with  pleasure,  instead  of  the 
sea,  the  billowy  reaches  of  that  mighty  main 
of  mist-crested  mountains  known  as  the 
Great  Smoky  Eange,  and  through  all  his 
talk,  and  continually  through  his  mind, 
flitted  the  bright  animated  presence  of  the 
victor  at  chungke. 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE 
ADA-WEHI 

ATTUSAH  was  obviously  an  impostor.  Many, 
however,  had  full  faith  in  his  supernatural 
power,  and  often  he  seemed  to  believe  in  his 
own  spectral  account  of  himself. 

"  Tsida-wei-yu ! "  (I  am  a  great  ada- 
wehi ! 6)  the  young  warrior  would  cry  with  his 
joyous  grandiloquent  gesture,  waving  his 
many  braceleted  right  arm  at  full  length  as 
he  held  himself  proudly  erect.  "  Akee-o- 
hoosa!  Akee-o-hoosa!  "  (I  am  dead).  Then 
triumphantly,  "  And  behold  I  am  still 
here." 

Attusah  had  gone  unscathed  through  that 
bloody  campaign  of  1761  in  which  the  Cher- 
okees  suffered  such  incredible  rigors.  After 
their  total  defeat  at  Etchoee  the  Indians 
could  offer  no  further  resistance  to  the  troops 
of  Colonel  Grant,  who  triumphantly  bore  the 
authority  of  the  British  king  from  one  end 
of  the  Cherokee  country  to  the  other,  for 
there  was  no  more  powder  to  be  had  hi  the 


180     THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

tribe.  The  French,  from  whom  they  had 
hoped  a  supply,  failed  them  at  their  utmost 
need,  and  now  those  massive  crags  of  the 
Great  Smoky  Mountains,  overhanging  the 
Tennessee  River,  no  longer  echoed  the 
"  whoo-whoop  !  "  of  the  braves,  the  wild  cry 
of  the  Highlanders,  "  Claymore  !  Clay 
more  !  "  the  nerve-thrilling  report  of  the  vol 
leys  of  musketry  from  the  Royal  Scots,  the 
hissing  of  the  hand  grenades  flung  bursting 
into  the  jungles  of  the  laurel.  Instead,  all 
the  clifty  defiles  of  the  ranges  were  filled 
with  the  roar  of  flames  and  the  crackling  of 
burning  timbers  as  town  after  town  was 
given  to  the  firebrand,  and  the  homeless, 
helpless  Cherokees  frantically  fleeing  to  the 
densest  coverts  of  the  wilderness,  —  that 
powerful  truculent  tribe  !  — sought  for  shel 
ter  like  those  "  feeble  folk  the  conies  "  in 
the  hollows  of  the  rocks. 

Thus  it  was  that  Digatiski,  the  Hawk, 
of  Eupharsee  Town,  long  the  terror  of  the 
southern  provinces,  must  needs  sit  idle,  for 
lorn,  frenzied  with  rage  and  grief,  in  a  re 
mote  and  lofty  cavity  of  a  great  cliff,  and 
looking  out  over  range  and  valley  and  river 
of  this  wild  and  beautiful  country,  see  fire 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI     181 

and  sword  work  their  mission  of  destruction 
upon  it.  By  day  a  cloud  of  smoke  afar  off 
bespoke  the  presence  of  the  soldiery.  At 
night  a  tremulous  red  light  would  spring  up 
amidst  the  darkness  of  the  valley,  and  ex 
panding  into  a  great  yellow  flare  summon 
mountains  and  sky  into  an  infinitely  sad  and 
weird  revelation  of  the  landscape,  as  the 
great  storehouses  of  corn  were  burned  to 
the  ground,  leaving  the  hapless  owners  to 
starvation. 

His  pride  grudged  his  very  eyes  the  sight 
of  this  humiliation,  for  despite  the  oft-re 
peated  assertion  of  the  improvidence  of  the 
Indian  character,  these  public  granaries, 
whence  by  the  primitive  Cherokee  govern 
ment  food  was  dispensed  gratis  to  all  the 
needy,  were  always  full,  and  their  destruction 
meant  national  annihilation  or  subjugation. 
After  one  furtive  glance  at  the  purple  ob 
scurities  of  the  benighted  world  he  would 
bow  his  head,  and  with  a  smothered  groan 
ask  of  the  ada-wehi,  "  Where  is  it  now,  At- 
tusah?" 

The  young  warrior,  half  reclining  at  the 
portal  of  the  niche,  would  lift  himself  on 
one  elbow,  —  the  glow  of  the  little  camp-fire 


182     THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

within  the  recess  on  his  feather-crested  head, 
his  wildly  painted  face,  the  twenty  strings 
of  roanoke  passed  tight  like  a  high  collar 
around  his  neck,  thence  hanging  a  cascade 
of  beads  over  his  chest,  the  devious  ara 
besques  of  tattooing  on  his  bare,  muscular 
arms,  the  embroideries  of  his  buckskin  rai 
ment  and  gaudy  quiver,  —  and  searching 
with  his  gay  young  eyes  through  the 
stricken  country  reply,  "  Cowetchee,"  "  Si- 
nica,"  "Tamotlee,"  whichever  town  might 
chance  to  be  in  flames. 

Doubtless  Attusah  realized  equally  the 
significance  of  the  crisis.  But  a  certain  joy 
ous  irresponsibility  characterized  him,  and 
indeed  he  had  never  seemed  quite  the  same 
since  he  died.  He  had  been  much  too  reck 
less,  however,  even  previous  to  that  event. 
Impetuous,  hasty,  tumultuously  hating  the 
British  colonists,  he  had  participated  several 
years  earlier  in  a  massacre  of  an  outlying 
station,  when  the  Cherokees  were  at  peace, 
without  warrant  of  tribal  authority,  and 
with  so  little  caution  as  to  be  recognized. 
For  this  breach  of  the  treaty  his  execution 
was  demanded  by  the  Royal  Governor  of 
South  Carolina,  and  reluctantly  conceded 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    183 

by  the  Cherokees  to  avert  a  war  for  the 
chastisement  of  the  tribe.  Powder  must 
have  been  exceedingly  scarce  ! 

Attusah  was  allowed  to  choose  his  method 
of  departure  to  the  happy  hunting-grounds, 
and  thus  was  duly  stabbed  to  death.  He 
was  left  weltering  in  his  blood  to  be  buried 
by  his  kindred.  The  half  king,  Atta-Kulla- 
Kulla,  satisfied  of  his  death,  himself  re 
ported  the  execution  to  the  Carolina  au 
thorities,  and  as  in  his  long  and  complicated 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  colonial  gov 
ernment  this  Cherokee  chief  had  never 
broken  faith,  he  was  implicitly  believed. 

Whether  the  extraordinary  vitality  and 
vigor  of  the  young  warrior  were  reasserted 
after  life  had  been  pronounced  wholly  ex 
tinct,  and  thus  his  relations  were  induced  to 
defer  the  obsequies,  or  that  he  was  enabled 
to  exert  supernatural  powers  and  in  the 
spirit  reappear  in  his  former  semblance  of 
flesh,  —  both  theories  being  freely  ad 
vanced,  —  certain  it  is  that  after  a  time 
he  returned  to  his  old  haunts  as  gay,  as 
reckless,  as  impetuous  as  ever.  He  bore  no 
token  of  his  strange  experience  save  sundry 
healed-over  scars  of  deep  gashes  in  his 


184    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

breast,  which  he  seemed  at  times  to  seek  to 
shield  from  observation  ;  and  this  he  might 
have  accomplished  but  for  his  solicitude  that 
a  very  smart  shirt,  much  embroidered  and 
bedizened  with  roanoke,  should  not  suffer 
by  exposure  to  water ;  wherefore  he  took  it 
off  when  it  rained,  and  in  swimming,  and 
on  the  war-path.  He  manifested,  too,  a  less 
puerile  anxiety  to  escape  the  notice  of  Atta- 
Kulla-Kulla  and  other  head  men,  who  were 
supposed  to  be  well  affected  at  that  time  to 
the  British  government.  This  he  was  the 
better  enabled  to  do  as  his  habitat,  Kanoo- 
tare,  was  the  most  remote  of  the  Cherokee 
towns,  his  name,  Attusah,  signifying  the 
"  Northward  Warrior." 

After  the  capitulation  of  Fort  Loudon 
and  the  massacre  of  the  garrison  the  pre 
vious  year,  and  the  organized  resistance  the 
Cherokees  had  made  in  the  field  of  battle 
against  Colonel  Montgomerie,  then  com 
manding  the  expeditionary  forces,  he  had 
felt  that  the  tribe's  openly  inimical  rela 
tions  with  the  British  government  warranted 
him  in  coming  boldly  forth  from  his  retire 
ment  and  competing  for  the  honors  of  the 
present  campaign  of  1761.  His  friends 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    185 

sought  to  dissuade  him.  The  government 
had  had,  as  assurance  of  his  death,  the  word 
of  Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  who  might  yet  insist 
that  the  pledge  be  made  good.  That  chief, 
they  urged,  had  a  delicate  conscience,  which 
is  often  an  engine  of  disastrous  efficiency 
when  exerted  on  the  affairs  of  other  people. 
Attusah  was  advised  that  he  had  best  stay 
dead.  Although  he  finally  agreed  with  this, 
he  could  not  stay  still,  and  thus  as  he  ap 
peared  in  various  skirmishes  it  became 
gradually  bruited  abroad  among  the  Chero- 
kees  that  Attusah,  the  Northward  Warrior, 
was  a  great  ada-wehi,  a  being  of  magical 
power,  or  a  ghost  as  it  might  be  said,  of 
special  spectral  distinctions.  Thus  he  lived 
as  gayly  yet  as  before  the  dismal  day  of 
his  execution,  always  carefully,  however, 
avoiding  the  notice  of  Atta-Kulla-Kulla, 
whose  word  had  been  solemnly  accepted  by 
the  British  government  as  the  pledge  of  his 
death. 

It  is  impossible  to  understand  how  a  man 
like  Digatiski  of  Eupharsee  could  believe 
this,  —  so  sage,  despite  his  ignorance,  so 
crafty,  so  diplomatic  and  acute  in  subter 
fuge,  yet  he  was  sodden  in  superstition. 


186    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

"  Can  you  see  Colonel  Grant,  the  Bar 
barous  ? " 7  he  asked  suddenly,  lifting  his 
head  and  gazing  steadily  at  the  young  In 
dian's  face,  which  was  outlined  against  the 
pallid  neutral  tint  of  the  sky.  The  dark  top 
most  boughs  of  a  balsam  fir  were  just  on  a 
level  with  the  clear  high-featured  profile ;  a 
single  star  glittering  beyond  and  above  his 
feathered  crest  looked  as  if  it  were  an  orna 
ment  of  the  headdress;  the  red  glow  of  the 
smouldering  fire  within,  which  had  been 
carefully  masked  in  ashes  as  the  darkness 
came  on,  that  its  sparkle  might  not  betray 
their  presence  here  to  any  wandering  band 
of  troopers,  still  sufficed  to  show  the  impos 
tor's  painted  red  cheek.  He  was  armed  with 
a  tomahawk  and  a  pistol,  without  powder  as 
useless  as  a  toy,  and  a  bow  borne  in  default 
of  aught  better  lay  on  the  floor  beside  him, 
while  a  gayly  ornamented  quiver  full  of  poi 
soned  arrows  swung  over  his  shoulder. 

o 

"  Ha-tsida-wei-yu  !  "  he  proclaimed.  "  I 
am  a  great  ada-wehi !  I  see  him !  Of  a 
surety  I  see  him  !  " 

Attusah  gazed  at  the  sombre  night  with 
an  expression  as  definitely  perceptive  as  if 
the  figure  in  his  thoughts  were  actually  be 
fore  his  eyes. 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    187 

"  And  he  is  not  dead  ?  "  cried  Digatiski, 
in  despair. 

Some  such  wild  rumor,  as  of  hope  gone 
mad,  had  pervaded  the  groups  of  Cherokee 
fugitives. 

"  He  would  be  if  I  could  get  close  enough 
with  a  bare  pinch  of  powder  that  might 
charge  my  gun  ! "  declared  Attusah  discon 
solately.  Then  himself  again,  "  But  I  will 
tell  you  this  !  He  is  waiting  for  my  poi 
soned  arrow !  And  when  he  dies  he  will 
come  back  no  more.  He  is  not  like  me." 

He  paused  to  throw  out  his  hand  with  his 
splendid  pompous  gesture.  "Akee-o-hoo- 
sa  !  Tsida-wei-yu  !  "  (I  am  dead  !  I  am  a 
great  ada-wehi !) 

Digatiski  groaned.  It  mattered  not  to 
him  whether  Colonel  Grant  came  back  or 
abode  in  his  proper  place  when  dead.  The 
grievous  dispensation  lay  in  the  fact  that 
he  was  here  now,  in  the  midst  of  the  wreck 
he  was  so  zealously  wreaking. 

There  were  three  women  in  the  niche. 
One  with  her  head  muffled  in  her  mantle 
of  fringed  deerskin  sat  against  the  wall, 
silently  weeping,  bemoaning  her  dead  slain 
in  the  recent  battle,  or  the  national  calami- 


188     THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

ties,  or  perhaps  the  mere  personal  afflictions 
of  fatigue  and  fear  and  hunger  and  sus 
pense.  Another  crouched  by  the  fire  and 
gazed  dolorously  upon  it  with  dreary  tear- 
filled  eyes,  and  swollen,  reddened  eyelids. 
The  sorrowful  aspect  of  a  third  was  oddly 
incongruous  with  her  gay  attire,  a  garb  of 
scarlet  cloth  trimmed  with  silver  tinsel  tas 
sels,  a  fabric  introduced  among  the  Chero- 
kees  by  an  English  trader  of  the  name  of 
Jeffreys,  and  which  met  with  great  favor. 
Her  anklets,  garters,  and  bracelets  of  sil 
ver  "bell-buttons"  tinkled  merrily  as  she 
moved,  for  she  had  postponed  her  tears  in 
the  effort  to  concoct  some  supper  from  the 
various  scraps  left  from  the  day's  scanty 
food.  The  prefatory  scraping  of  the  coals  to 
gether  caused  a  sudden  babbling  of  pleasure 
to  issue  from  the  wall,  where,  suspended  on 
a  projection  of  rock,  was  one  of  the  curious 
upright  cradles  of  the  people,  from  which  a 
pappoose,  stiff  and  perpendicular,  gazed  down 
at  the  culinary  preparations,  evidently  in 
the  habit  of  participating  to  a  limited  ex 
tent  in  the  result,  having  attained  some  ten 
months  of  age. 

The  mother  glanced  up,  and  despite  the 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    189 

tear  stains  about  her  eyes,  dimpled  and 
laughed  in  response.  Griefs  may  come  and 
pleasures  go,  nations  rise  and  fall,  the  world 
wag  on  as  it  will,  but  this  old  joy  of  mother 
and  child,  each  in  the  other,  is  ever  new  and 
yet  ever  the  same. 

Resuming  her  occupation,  the  woman  hes 
itated  for  a  moment  as  she  was  about  to  lay 
the  meat  on  the  coals,  the  half  of  a  wood 
duck,  fortunately  killed  by  an  arrow,  for 
larger  game  was  not  attainable,  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  country  being  in  flight  as 
never  heretofore.  The  conflagration  of  the 
towns  of  a  whole  district,  the  turmoils  of 
the  heady  victorious  troops,  hitherto  held 
together,  but  now  sent  through  the  region 
in  separate  detachments,  each  within  reach 
of  support,  however,  had  stripped  the  tribe 
of  this  last  means  of  subsistence.  Years 
and  years  afterward  the  grim  dismantled 
fragments  of  these  buildings  were  still  to  be 
seen,  the  charred  walls  and  rafters  mere 
skeletons  against  the  sky,  standing,  melan 
choly  memorials  of  war,  on  the  hillsides 
and  in  the  valleys,  along  the  watercourses 
"  transparent  as  glass,"  of  that  lovely  coun 
try  where  these  pleasant  homes  had  been. 


190    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

The  Indian  woman  doubted  if  the  bit  of 
fat  could  be  spared  ;  then  poising  it  in  her 
hand  under  the  watchful  eyes  of  all,  she 
flung  it  into  the  fire,  the  essential  burnt- 
offering  according  to  their  old  religious 
custom. 

Digatiski,  bowing  his  head  still  lower, 
once  more  groaned  aloud.  He  would  not 
have  stayed  her  hand,  —  but  to  hunger  even 
for  the  offering  to  the  fire  !  The  woman 
whose  head  was  muffled  had  only  to  re 
peat  her  sobs  anew ;  she  could  not  sorrow 
more  !  But  the  pappoose  in  its  primitive 
cradle  on  the  wall  babbled  out  its  simple 
pleasure,  and  now  and  again  the  tearful  little 
mother  must  needs  lift  smiling  eyes. 

The  great  ada-wehi  looked  out  at  the 
night.  On  the  whole  he  was  glad  he  was 
dead  ! 

He  took  no  bite,  nor  did  Digatiski.  The 
Indian  men  were  accustomed  to  long  fasts 
in  war  and  in  hunting,  and  they  left  the 
trivial  bits  to  the  women.  The  muffled 
figure  of  grief  held  out  her  hand  blindly  and 
munched  the  share  given  her  in  the  folds  of 
her  veil.  Then,  for  tears  are  of  no  nutritive 
value,  she  held  out  her  hand  again.  Feeling 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    191 

it  still  empty,  she  lifted  the  veil  from  a 
swollen  tear-stained  face  to  gaze  aghast  at 
the  others.  They  silently  returned  the  gaze, 
aghast  themselves,  and  then  all  three  wo 
men  fell  to  sobbing  once  more.  But  the  pap- 
poose  was  crowing  convivially  over  a  bone. 

Hunger  does  not  dispose  to  slumber,  nor 
does  war  with  the  sight  of  a  dozen  towns 
aflame.  They  slept,  but  in  fitful  starts, 
and  the  first  gray  siftings  of  light  through 
the  desolate  darkness  found  them  all  gazing 
drearily  at  it,  for  what  might  a  new  day 
signify  to  them  but  new  dangers,  fresh  sor 
rows,  and  quickened  fears. 

A  flush  was  presently  in  the  east,  albeit 
dusk  lingered  westward.  The  wonderful 
crystalline  white  lustre  of  the  morning  star 
palpitated  in  the  amber  sky,  seeming  the 
very  essence  of  light,  then  gradually  van 
ished  in  a  roseate  haze.  The  black  moun 
tains  grew  purple,  changing  to  a  dark  rich 
green.  The  deep,  cool  valleys  were  dewy  in 
the  midst  of  a  shadowy  gray  vapor.  The 
farthest  ranges  showed  blue  under  a  silver 
film,  and  suddenly  here  were  the  rays  of 
the  sun  shooting  over,  all  the  world,  aiming 
high  and  far  for  the  western  hills. 


192     THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

And  abruptly  said  the  ada-wehi,  as  he 
still  lay  at  length  on  the  floor  of  the 
niche,  — 

«  Skee  !  "    (Listen  ! ) 

Naught  but  the  breeze  of  morning, 
delicately  freighted  with  the  breath  of  bal 
sams,  the  dew,  the  fragrance  of  the  awak 
ening  of  the  wild  flowers,  the  indescribable 
matutinal  freshness,  the  incense  of  a  new 
day  in  June. 

«  Skee  !  " 

Only  the  sound  of  the  rippling  Tennes 
see,  so  silver  clear,  beating  and  beating 
against  the  vibrant  rocks  as  its  currents 
swirl  round  the  bend  at  the  base  of  the  cliff. 

«  Skee  !  " 

The  sudden  fall  of  a  fragment  of  rock 
from  the  face  of  the  crag  to  the  ground  far 
below!  —  the  interval  of  time  between  the 
scraping  dislodgment  and  the  impact  with 
the  clay  beneath  implies  a  proportional  in 
terval  of  distance. 

The  conviction  is  the  same  in  the  mind 
of  each.  A  living  creature  is  climbing  the 
ascent !  A  bear,  it  may  be.  A  great  bird, 
an  eagle,  or  one  of  the  hideous  mountain 
vultures,  very  busy  of  late,  alighting  in 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI     193 

quest  of  food  — which  it  might  find  in  plenty 
elsewhere,  in  the  track  of  the  invaders. 

Attusah  does  not  rely,  however,  on  a 
facile  hypothesis  with  a  triumphant  enemy 
at  hand,  and  a  dozen  towns  charring  to  ashes 
in  sight. 

As  noiseless  as  a  shadow,  as  swift,  Attu 
sah  is  on  his  feet.  At  the  back  of  the 
great  niche,  so  high  that  none  could  con 
ceive  that  it  might  afford  an  exit,  a  fissure 
lets  in  a  vague  dreary  blur  of  light  from 
spaces  beyond.  Leaping  high  into  the  air, 
the  lithe  young  warrior  fixes  his  fingers  on 
the  ledge,  crumbling  at  first,  but  holding 
firm  under  a  closer  grasp.  The  elder  man, 
understanding  the  ruse  as  if  by  instinct, 
lays  hold  of  the  knees  of  the  other,  held 
out  stiff  and  straight  below.  Then  by  a 
mighty  effort  Attusah  lifts  the  double 
weight  into  the  fissure,  the  elder  Indian 
aiding  the  manosuvre  by  walking  up  the 
wall,  as  it  were,  with  his  feet  successively 
braced  against  it. 

Outside,  now  and  again  bits  of  rock  con 
tinued  to  fall,  seeming  to  herald  a  cautious 
approach,  for  after  each  sound  a  consider 
able  interval  of  silence  would  ensue.  So 


194    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

long  continued  was  this  silence  at  last  that 
the  three  women,  now  alone,  began  to  deem 
the  alarm  of  an  intrusion  vain  and  fantas 
tic.  The  elder  of  them  motioned  to  one  of 
the  others  to  look  out  and  terminate  the 
painful  suspense. 

The  young  squaw,  brilliant  in  her  scarlet 
dress  and  silver  tassels,  the  pappoose  piously 
quiet  in  his  perpendicular  cradle  on  her 
back,  slipped  with  gingerly  caution  to  the 
verge  of  the  precipice  and  looked  down. 

Nothing  she  saw,  and  in  turn  she  was  in 
visible  from  without.  She  wheeled  around 
briskly  to  reassure  the  others,  and  at  that 
moment  a  young  soldier  of  the  battalion  of 
Scotch  Highlanders  stepped  from  the  hori 
zontal  ledge  alongside,  which  he  had  then 
gained,  and  into  the  niche,  bringing  up 
short  against  the  pappoose,  stiff  and  erect 
in  its  cradle. 

"  Hegh,  sirs !  "  he  cried  in  jocular  sur 
prise,  happy  to  find  naught  more  formidable, 
perhaps,  although  a  brave  man,  for  he  had 
volunteered  to  examine  the  source  of  the 
smoke  from  this  precarious  perch,  —  which 
had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  ensign 
commanding  a  little  detachment,  —  despite 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI     195 

the  fact  that  a  Cherokee  in  his  den  and 
brought  to  bay  was  likely  to  prove  a  dan 
gerous  beast. 

The  Highlander  had  a  piece  of  bread  in 
his  hand,  from  which  he  had  been  recklessly 
munching  as  he  had  stood  for  a  moment's 
breathing  spell  on  the  horizontal  ledge  be 
side  the  niche  before  venturing  to  enter, 
for  the  command  had  broken  camp  with 
scant  allowance  of  time  for  breakfast.  With 
a  genial  laugh  he  thrust  a  morsel  into  the 
pappoose's  open  mouth  and  put  the  rest  in 
its  little  fingers. 

Perhaps  it  was  because  of  his  relief  to 
find  no  bigger  Cherokee  man  stowed  away 
here  in  ambush  ;  perhaps  because  he  was 
himself  hearty  and  well-fed  and  disposed  to 
be  gracious ;  perhaps  because  he  had  a 
whole-souled  gentle  nature  hardly  conso 
nant  with  the  cruel  arts  of  war  which  he 
practiced,  —  at  all  events  he  was  thoughtful 
enough  of  others  to  mark  the  ravenous 
look  which  the  women  cast  upon  the  food 
in  the  child's  hand. 

"  Gude  guide  us  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  This 
is  fearf u'  wark  !  The  hellicat  hempies  are 
half  starved !  " 


196    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

For  if  Colonel  Grant  compassionated  the 
plight  of  the  savages,  as  he  has  recorded, 
and  shrank  from  the  ruin  wrought  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duty  of  destroying  their 
capacities  for  resistance  and  the  mainte 
nance  of  existence  other  than  as  peaceful 
dependents  of  the  British  colonies,  the  rank 
and  file  of  his  command,  weighted  with  no 
such  responsibilities,  may  well  have  indulged 
now  and  then  a  qualm  of  pity. 

The  British  soldier  had  been  ordered  to 
halloo  for  help  should  he  encounter  armed 
resistance,  but  otherwise  to  rest  a  bit  at 
the  top  of  the  precipice  before  making  the 
effort  to  descend,  lest  he  become  dizzy  from 
fatigue  and  the  long  strain  upon  his  facul 
ties,  and  fall ;  the  ensign  added  a  pointed 
reminder  that  he  had  no  means  of  trans 
portation  for  "  fules  with  brucken  craigs." 
The  opportunity  was  propitious.  The  High 
lander  utilized  the  interval  to  open  his 
haversack  and  dispense  such  portion  of  its 
contents  as  he  could  spare.  While  thus  en 
gaged  he  was  guilty  of  an  oversight  inex 
cusable  in  a  soldier  :  the  better  to  handle 
and  divide  the  food,  he  leaned  his  loaded 
gun  against  the  wall. 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI     197 

A  vague  shadow  flickered  across  the 
niche. 

The  young  Highlander  was  a  fine  man 
physically,  although  there  was  no  great 
beauty  in  his  long,  thin,  frank,  freckled  face, 
with  its  dare-devil  expression  and  bantering 
blue  eyes.  But  he  was  tall,  heavily  muscled, 
clean-limbed,  of  an  admirable  symmetry,  and 
the  smartest  of  smart  soldiers.  His  kilt  and 
plaid  swung  and  fluttered  with  martial  grace 
in  his  free,  alert,  military  gait  as  he  stepped 
about  the  restricted  space  of  the  cavity,  be 
stowing  his  bounty  on  all  three  women.  His 
"  bonnet  cocked  f  u  sprash  "  revealed  certain 
intimations  in  his  countenance  of  gentle  nur 
ture,  no  great  pretensions  truly,  but  betoken 
ing  a  higher  grade  of  man  than  is  usually 
found  in  the  rank  and  file  of  an  army.  This 
fact  resulted  from  the  peculiar  situation  of 
the  Scotch  insurgents  toward  government 
after  the  "  Forty-Five,"  and  the  consequent 
breaking  up  of  the  resources  of  many  well- 
to-do  middle-class  families  as  well  as  the 
leaders  of  great  clans. 

The  Highlander  hesitated  after  the  first 
round  of  distribution,  for  there  would  be  no 
means  of  revictualing  that  haversack  until 


198  THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

the  next  issuance  of  rations,  and  he  was  him 
self  a  "  very  valiant  trencher-man."  Never 
theless  their  dire  distress  and  necessity  so 
urged  his  generosity  that  he  began  his  rounds 
anew. 

Once  more  a  shadow.    Whence  should  a 
shadow  fall  ?  It  nickered  through  the  niche. 

o 

The  three  women  stood  as  mute  as  statues. 
The  pappoose  in  its  cradle  on  its  mother's 
back,  its  face  turned  ignominiously  toward 
the  wall,  and  perhaps  aware  that  something 
of  interest  in  the  commissariat  department 
was  going  forward,  had  begun  to  whimper 
in  a  very  civilized  manner,  and  doubtless  it 
was  this  trivial  noise  that  deterred  the  young 
Scotchman  from  hearing  sounds  of  more 
moment,  calculated  to  rouse  his  suspicions. 
He  had  already  added  to  the  portions  of  the 
elder  women  and  was  bestowing  his  dona 
tions  upon  the  young  mother,  when  suddenly 
the  shadow  materialized  and  whisked  past 
him. 

It  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  from  above. 

Bewildered,  agitated,  before  he  could  turn, 
his  gun  was  seized  and  presented  at  his  breast 
by  a  warrior  who  seemed  to  have  fallen  from 
the  sky.  The  soldier,  nevertheless,  instantly 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    199 

laid  his  hand  on  the  great  basket-hilt  of  his 
claymore.  Before  he  could  draw  the  blade, 
the  warrior  and  the  three  women  flung  them 
selves  upon  him,  their  arms  so  closely  wound 
about  him  that  his  own  arms  were  effectually 
pinioned  to  his  sides.  With  a  violent  effort 
he  shook  himself  free  from  their  grasp  for 
one  moment;  yet  as  the  blade  came  glitter 
ing  forth  from  the  scabbard,  a  sharp  blow 
scientifically  administered  upon  the  wrist  by 
the  ada-wehi  almost  broke  the  bone  and  sent 
the  weapon  flying  from  his  hand  and  clat 
tering  to  the  floor  of  the  niche.  The  wo 
men  had  taken  advantage  of  the  opportu 
nity  afforded  by  the  struggle  between  the 
two  men  to  substitute  the  coils  of  a  heavy 
hempen  rope  for  the  clasp  of  their  arms,  and 
Attusah  had  only  to  give  a  final  twist  to  the 
knots  of  their  skilled  contriving,  when  the 
captive  was  disarmed  and  bound. 

He  had  instantly  bethought  himself  of 
his  comrades  and  an  appeal  for  rescue,  and 
sent  forth  a  wild,  hoarse  yell,  which,  had  it 
been  heard,  must  have  apprised  them  of  his 
plight.  But  as  he  had  not  at  once  given 
the  signal  of  danger  agreed  upon,  they  had 
naturally  supposed  the  coast  clear,  and  while 


200     THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

he  rested  presumably  at  the  top  of  the  pre 
cipice  they  gave  their  attention  to  other  de 
tails  of  their  mission,  firing  several  houses 
at  a  little  distance  down  the  river.  There 
fore  they  would  have  heard  naught,  even  if 
Attusah  had  not  precluded  further  efforts 
of  his  captive  to  communicate  with  his  com 
rades  by  swiftly  fashioning  a  gag  out  of  the 
Highlander's  bonnet  and  gloves. 

Perhaps  never  was  a  brave  man  more  dis 
mayed  and  daunted.  Not  death  alone,  but 
fire  and  torture  menaced  him.  The  shining 
liquid  delight  in  the  eyes  of  the  women  re 
minded  him  of  the  strange  fact  that  they 
were  ever  the  most  forward  in  these  cruel 
pleasures,  for  the  ingenuity  of  which  the 
Cherokees  were  famous  among  all  the  tribes. 
Yet  the  realization  of  his  peril  did  not  so 
diminish  his  scope  of  feeling  as  to  prevent 
him  from  inwardly  upbraiding  his  ill-starred 
generosity  as  the  folly  of  a  hopeless  fool, 
more  especially  as  the  elder  woman  —  she 
of  the  many  tears  —  held  up  the  substantial 
gift  of  provisions,  jeering  at  him  with  a  look 
in  her  face  that  did  not  need  to  be  supple 
mented  by  the  scoffing  of  language. 

"  The   auld   randy  besom  !  "  the  soldier 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    201 

commented  within  himself.  "  But  eh,  I 
didna  gie  it  to  be  thankit,  —  nae  sic  a  f ule 
as  that  comes  to,  neither  !  " 

Hoping  against  hope,  he  thought  that  the 
length  of  his  absence  would  inevitably  alarm 
the  ensign  for  his  scout's  safety,  when  it 
should  attract  attention,  and  induce  the 
officer  to  send  a  party  for  his  relief  and 
for  further  investigation  of  the  precipice, 
whence  the  smoke  intimated  an  ambush  of 
the  enemy.  This  expectation  had  no  sooner 
suggested  its  solace  and  the  exercise  of  pa 
tience  in  the  certainty  of  ultimate  rescue, 
than  the  Highlander  began  to  mark  the 
preparations  among  the  Indians  for  a  swift 
departure.  But  how?  The  precipice  was  a 
sheer  descent  for  eighty  feet,  the  rugged- 
ness  of  its  face  barely  affording  foothold 
for  a  bird  or  a  mountaineer ;  and  at  its  base 
hovered  the  ensign's  party  within  striking 
distance.  A  resisting  captive  could  not  be 
withdrawn  by  this  perilous  path.  The  sol 
dier  looked  in  doubt  and  suspense  about  the 
restricted  limits  of  the  cavity  in  the  great 
crag.  The  mystery  was  soon  solved. 

The  position  of  all  had  changed  in  the 
struggle,  and  from  where  Kenneth  Mac- 


202    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

Vintie  now  stood  he  noted  a  scant  suggestion 
of  light  flickering  down  from  a  black  fissure 
in  the  roof  of  the  cavity,  and  instantly  real 
ized  that  it  must  give  an  exit  upon  the  moun 
tain  slope  beyond.  The  agility  with  which 
Attusah  of  Kanootare  sprang  up  and  leaped 
into  it  was  admirable  to  behold,  but  MacVin- 
tie  did  not  believe  that,  although  knotted 
up  as  he  was  in  his  own  plaid  passed  under 
his  arms  and  around  his  waist  for  the  pur 
pose,  he  could  be  lifted  by  the  ends  of  the 
fabric  through  that  aperture  by  the  strength 
of  any  one  man.  Naturally  he  himself  would 
make  no  effort  to  facilitate  the  enterprise. 
On  the  contrary,  such  inertness  as  the  sheer 
exercise  of  will  could  compass  was  added  to 
his  dead  weight.  Nevertheless  he  rose  slowly, 
slowly  through  the  air.  As  he  was  finally 
dragged  through  the  rift  in  the  rocks,  his 
first  feeling  was  one  of  gratification  to  per 
ceive  that  no  one  man  could  so  handle  him. 
The  feat  had  required  the  utmost  exer 
tions  of  two  athletic  Indians  pulling  strenu 
ously  at  the  ends  of  the  plaid  passed  over  a 
projection  of  rock,  thus  acting  pulley- wise, 
and  the  good  Glasgow  weave  was  shedding 
its  frayed  fragments  through  all  the  place 
by  reason  of  the  strain  it  had  sustained. 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI     203 

The  next  moment  more  serious  consider 
ations  claimed  his  thoughts.  He  saw  that 
two  men,  fully  armed,  for  Digatiski  had 
secured  ammunition  for  his  own  gun  from 
the  cartouch-box  of  the  soldier,  could  force 
his  withdrawal,  bound  as  he  was,  farther 
and  farther  from  the  ensign  and  his  party, 
whose  attention  had  been  temporarily  di 
verted  from  the  scout's  delay  in  returning 
by  signs  of  the  enemy  ambushed  in  another 
direction. 

MacVintie  still  struggled,  albeit  he  knew 
that  it  was  vain  to  resist,  more  especially 
when  another  Cherokee  joined  the  party 
and  dedicated  himself  solely  to  the  enter 
prise  of  pushing  and  haling  the  captive 
over  the  rugged  way,  —  often  at  as  fair  a 
speed  as  if  his  good  will  had  been  enlisted 
in  the  endeavor.  Now  and  again,  however, 
the  Highlander  contrived  to  throw  himself 
prone  upon  the  ground,  thus  effectually 
hampering  their  progress  and  requiring  the 
utmost  exertions  of  all  three  to  lift  his  great 
frame.  The  patience  of  the  Indians  seemed 
illimitable  ;  again  and  again  they  performed 
this  feat,  only  to  renew  it  at  the  distance  of 
a  few  hundred  yards. 


204    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

At  length  the  fact  was  divined  by  Mac- 
Vintie.  More  than  the  ordinary  fear  of 
capture  animated  Attusah  of  Kanootare. 
Colonel  Grant's  treatment  of  his  prisoners 
was  humane  as  the  laws  of  war  require. 
Moreover,  his  authority,  heavily  reinforced  by 
threats  of  pains  and  penalties,  had  sufficed, 
except  in  a  few  instances,  to  restrain  the 
Chickasaw  allies  of  the  British  from  wreak 
ing  their  vengeance  on  the  captive  Chero- 
kees  in  the  usual  tribal  method  of  fire  and 
torture.  The  inference  was  obvious.  Attu 
sah  of  Kanootare  was  particularly  obnox 
ious  to  the  British  government,  the  civil 
as  well  as  the  military  authorities,  and  flee 
ing  from  death  himself,  he  intended  at  all 
hazards  to  prevent  the  escape  of  his  prisoner, 
who  would  give  the  alarm,  and  inaugurate 
pursuit  from  the  party  of  the  ensign. 

In  this  connection  a  new  development 
attracted  the  attention  of  MacVintie.  As 
they  advanced  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
Cherokee  country  and  the  signs  and  sights 
of  war  grew  remote,  —  no  sounds  of  volleys 
nor  even  distant  dropping  shots  clanging 
from  the  echoes,  no  wreaths  of  smoke  float 
ing  among  the  hills,  no  flare  of  flames 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    205 

flinging  crude  red  and  yellow  streaks  across 
the  luminous  velvet  azure  of  distant  moun 
tains  with  their  silver  haze,  viewed  through 
vistas  of  craggy  chasms  near  at  hand,  —  he 
observed  a  lessening  of  cordiality  in  the 
manner  of  the  other  two  Indians  toward  the 
Northward  Warrior,  and  a  frequency  on  his 
part  to  protest  that  he  was  a  great  ada-wehi, 
and  was  dead  although  he  appeared  alive. 
The  truth  soon  dawned  upon  the  shrewd 
Scotchman,  albeit  he  understood  only  so 
much  Cherokee  as  he  had  chanced  to  catch 
up  in  his  previous  campaign  in  this  region 
with  Montgomerie  and  the  present  expedi 
tion.  Attusah  was  for  some  reason  obnox 
ious  to  his  own  people  as  well  as  to  the  Brit 
ish,  and  was  in  effect  a  fugitive  from  both 
factions.  Indeed,  the  other  two  Indians  pre 
sently  manifested  a  disposition  to  avoid  him. 
After  much  wrangling  and  obvious  discon 
tent  and  smouldering  suspicion,  one  lagged 
systematically,  and,  the  pace  being  speedy, 
contrived  to  fairly  quit  the  party.  Digatiski 
accompanied  them  two  more  days,  then, 
openly  avowing  his  intent,  fell  away  from 
the  line  of  march.  It  was  instantly  diverted 
toward  the  Little  Tennessee  River,  on  the 


206    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

western  side  of  the  Great  Smoky  Moun 
tains;  and  as  Attusah  realized  that  without 
his  connivance  his  captive's  escape  had  be 
come  impossible,  MacVintie  found  himself 
unbound,  ungagged,  and  the  society  of  the 
ada-wehi  as  pleasant  as  that  of  a  savage 
ghost  can  well  be. 

There  was  now  no  effort  to  escape.  Mac- 
Vintie's  obvious  policy  was  to  await  with 
what  patience  he  might  the  appearance  of 
the  British  vanguard,  who  in  the  sheer 
vaunt  of  victory  would  march  from  one  end 
of  the  unresisting  territory  to  the  other,  that 
all  might  witness  and  bow  before  the  tri 
umph  of  the  royal  authority.  As  yet  remote 
from  the  advance  of  the  troops,  he  dared 
not  quit  his  captor  in  these  sequestered 
regions  lest  he  fall  into  the  power  of  more 
inimical  Cherokees,  maddened  by  disaster, 
overwhelmed  in  ruin,  furious,  and  thirst 
ing  for  revenge  for  the  slaughter  of  their 
nearest  and  dearest,  and  the  ashes  of  their 
homes. 

Attusah  made  known  his  reason  for  his 
own  uncharacteristic  leniency  to  a  soldier  of 
this  ruthless  army,  as  they  sat  together  by 
the  shady  river-side.  He  went  through  the 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    207 

dumb  show  of  repeatedly  offering  to  his 
captive  guest  the  fish  they  had  caught, 
pressing  additional  portions  upon  him, 
laughing  significantly  and  joyously  through 
out  his  mimicry.  Then  suddenly  grave,  he 
seized  the  Highlander's  left  arm,  giving  it 
an  earnest  grasp  about  the  wrist,  the  elbow, 
then  close  to  the  shoulder  to  intimate  that 
he  spared  him  for  his  gift  to  the  needy  and 
helpless. 

But  Kenneth  MacVintie,  remembering 
his  ill-starred  generosity,  flushed  to  the  eye 
brows,  so  little  it  became  his  record  as  a 
soldier,  he  thought,  that  he  should  be  cap 
tured  and  stand  in  danger  of  his  life  by 
reason  of  the  unmilitary  performance  of 
feeding  a  babbling  pappoose. 

Attusah,  however,  could  but  love  him  for 
it ;  he  loved  the  soldier  for  his  kind  heart, 
he  said.  For  great  as  he  himself  was,  the 
Northward  Warrior,  he  had  known  how  bit 
ter  it  was  to  lack  kindness. 

"  It  is  not  happy  to  be  an  ada-wehi ! " 
he  confessed,  "for  those  who  believe  fear 
those  who  do  not !  " 

And  tearing  open  the  throat  of  his  bead- 
embroidered  shirt  to  reveal  the  frightful 


208    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

gashes  of  the  wounds  in  his  breast,  he  told 
the  story  of  his  legal  death,  with  tears  in 
his  gay  eyes,  and  a  tremor  of  grief  in  the 
proud  intonations  of  his  voice,  that  thus 
had  been  requited  a  feat,  the  just  guerdon 
of  which  should  have  been  the  warrior's 
crown,  —  in  the  bestowal  of  which,  but  for 
a  cowardly  fear  of  the  English,  all  the  tribe 
would  have  concurred. 

"  Akee-o-hoosa !  "  (I  am  dead!)  he  said, 
pointing  at  the  scars.  And  the  Highlander 
felt  that  death  had  obviously  been  in  every 
stroke,  and  hardly  wondered  that  they  who 
had  seen  the  blows  dealt  should  now  ac 
count  the  appearance  of  the  man  a  spectral 
manifestation,  his  unquiet  ghost. 

Then,  Attusah's  mood  changing  suddenly, 
"  Tsida-wei-yu  !"  (I  am  a  great  ada-wehi !) 
he  boasted  airily. 

That  he  was  truly  possessed  of  magical 
powers  seemed  to  MacVintie  least  to  be 
questioned  when  he  angled,  catching  the 
great  catfish,  after  the  manner  of  the  In 
dians,  with  the  open  palm  of  his  hand.  In 
these  fresh  June  mornings  he  would  dive 
down  in  some  deep  shady  pool  under  the 
dark  ledges  of  rock  where  the  catfish  are 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI     209 

wont  to  lurk,  his  right  arm  wrapped  to  the 
fingers  with  a  scarlet  cloth.  Tempted  by 
the  seeming  bait,  the  catfish  would  take  the 
finger-tips  deep  in  its  gullet,  the  strong 
hand  would  instantly  clinch  on  its  head, 
and  Attusah  would  rise  with  his  struggling 
gleaming  prey,  to  be  broiled  on  the  coals 
for  breakfast. 

But  for  these  finny  trophies  they  too 
might  have  suffered  for  food,  in  the  scarcity 
of  game  and  the  lack  of  powder;  but  thus 
well  fed,  the  two  enemies,  like  comrades, 
would  loiter  beside  their  camp-fire  on  the 
banks,  awaiting  as  it  were  the  course  of 
events.  The  dark  green  crystalline  lustre 
of  the  shady  reaches  of  the  river,  where 
the  gigantic  trees  hung  over  the  current, 
contrasted  with  the  silver  glister  of  the  rip 
ples  far  out,  shimmering  in  the  full  glare 
of  the  sun.  The  breeze,  exquisitely  fra 
grant,  would  blow  fresh  and  free  from  the 
dense  forests.  The  mockingbird,  a  feath 
ered  miracle  to  the  Highlander,  would  sway 
on  a  twig  above  them  and  sing  jubilantly 
the  whole  day  through  and  deep  into  the 
night.  The  distant  mountains  would  show 
softly  blue  on  the  horizon  till  the  sun  was 


210     THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

going  down,  when  they  would  assume  a 
translucent  jewel-like  lustre,  amethystine 
and  splendid.  And  at  night  all  the  stars 
were  in  the  dark  sky,  for  the  moon  was 
new. 

So  idle  they  were  they  must  needs  talk 
and  talk.  But  this  was  an  exercise  requir 
ing  some  skill  and  patience  on  the  part  of 
each,  for  the  Scotchman  could  only  by  the 
closest  attention  gather  the  meaning  of  the 
Cherokee  language  as  it  was  spoken,  and 
the  magic  of  the  ada-wehi  compassed  but 
scanty  English.  Attusah  was  further  ham 
pered  by  the  necessity  of  pausing  now  and 
then  to  spit  out  the  words  of  the  tongue 
he  abhorred  as  if  of  an  evil  taste.  Never 
theless  it  was  by  means  of  this  imperfect 
linguistic  communication  that  Kenneth  Mac- 
Vintie,  keenly  alive  to  aught  of  significance 
in  this  strange  new  world,  surrounded  with 
unknown  unmeasured  dangers,  was  enabled 
to  note  how  the  thoughts  of  his  companion 
ran  upon  the  half  king  Atta-Kulla-Kulla. 
Yet  whenever  a  question  was  asked  or  curi 
osity  suggested,  the  wary  Attusah  diverted 
the  topic.  This  fact  focused  the  observation 
of  the  shrewd,  pertinacious  Scotchman.  At 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    211 

first  he  deemed  the  special  interest  lay  in  a 
jealousy  of  artistic  handicraft. 

Atta-Kulla-Kulla's  name  implied  the  su 
perlative  of  a  skillful  carver  in  wood,  Attu- 
sah  told  him  one  day. 

"  An'  isna  he  a  skilly  man  ?  "  MacVintie 
asked. 

"  Look  at  that !  "  cried  the  braggart, 
holding  aloft  his  own  work.  He  was  carv 
ing  a  pipe  from  the  soft  stone  of  the  region, 
which  so  lends  itself  to  the  purpose,  hard 
ening  when  heated.  "  Tsida-wei-yu  !  " 

There  was  a  long  pause  while  the  mock 
ingbird  sang  with  an  exuberant  magic  which 
might  baffle  the  emulation  of  any  ada-wehi 
of  them  all.  MacVintie  had  almost  forgot 
ten  the  episode  when  Attusah  said  suddenly 
that  the  colonists  translated  the  name  of 
Atta-Kulla-Kulla  as  the  "  Little  Carpen 
ter." 

"  Hegh  !  they  hae  a  ship  named  for  his 
honor  !  "  exclaimed  the  Highlander.  "  I  hae 
seen  the  Little  Carpenter  in  the  harbor  in 
Charlestoun,  swingin'  an'  bobbin'  at  her 
cables,  just  out  frae  the  mither  country  ! 
Her  captain's  name  wull  be  Maitland." 

This  evidence  of  the  importance  of  the 


212    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

Cherokee  magnate  in  the  opinion  of  the 
British  colonists  did  not  please  the  ada-wehi. 
He  spat  upon  the  ship  with  ostentatious 
contempt  as  it  were,  and  then  went  on  si 
lently  with  his  carving. 

The  mockingbird  paused  to  listen  to  a 
note  from  the  hermit  thrush  in  the  dense 
rhododendron,  still  splendidly  abloom  on  the 
mountain  slope.  The  Scotchman's  eyes  nar 
rowed  to  distinguish  if  the  white  flake  of 
light  in  the  deep  green  water  across  a  little 
bay  were  the  reflection  of  the  flower  known 
as  the  Chilhowee  lily,  or  the  ethereal  blos 
som  itself. 

Attusah's  mind  seemed  yet  with  the  sea 
going  craft.  He  himself  knew  the  name  of 
another  ship,  he  said  presently ;  and  the 
Highlander  fancied  that  he  ill  liked  to  be 
outdone  in  knowledge  of  the  outer  world. 

But  it  was  immediately  developed  that  in 
this  ship  Atta-Kulla-Kulla  had  sailed  to 
England  many  years  before  to  visit  King 
George  II.  in  London.8  Attusah  could  not 
at  once  anglicize  the  name  "  Chochoola," 
but  after  so  long  a  time  MacVintie  was  ena 
bled  to  identify  the  Fox,  then  a  noted 
British  man-of-war. 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    213 

In  these  leisurely  beguilements  the  days 
passed,  until  one  morning  Attusah's  fears 
and  presentiments  were  realized  in  their 
seizure  by  a  party  of  Cherokees,  who  swooped 
down  upon  their  hermitage  and  bore  them 
off  by  force  to  the  council-house  of  the 
town  of  Citico,  where  Atta-Kulla-Kulla  and 
a  number  of  other  head  men  had  assembled 
to  discuss  the  critical  affairs  of  the  tribe, 
and  decide  on  its  future  policy. 

So  critical  indeed  was  the  situation  that 
it  seemed  to  MacVintie  that  they  might 
well  dispense  with  notice  of  two  factors  so 
inconsiderable  in  the  scale  of  national  im 
portance  as  the  ada-wehi  and  his  captive. 
But  one  was  a  British  prisoner,  calculated 
to  expiate  in  a  degree  with  his  life  the  woe 
and  ruin  his  comrades  had  wrought.  The 
more  essential  was  this  course  since  the 
triumph  of  putting  him  to  the  torture  and 
death  would  gratify  and  reanimate  many 
whose  zeal  was  flagging  under  an  accumu 
lation  of  anguish  and  helpless  defeat,  and 
stimulate  them  to  renewed  exertions.  For 
before  the  Cherokees  would  sue  for  peace 
they  waited  long  in  the  hope  that  the  French 
would  yet  be  enabled  to  convey  to  them  a 


214    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

sufficient  supply  of  powder  to  renew  and 
prosecute  the  war. 

As  to  the  arrest  of  the  other,  Attusah  of 
Kanootare,  this  was  necessary  in  the  event 
that  submission  to  the  British  government 
became  inevitable.  For  since  he  claimed  to 
be  a  ghost,  surely  never  was  spectre  so  reck 
less.  He  had  indeed  appeared  to  so  many 
favored  individuals  that  the  English  might 
fairly  have  cause  to  doubt  his  execution  in 
satisfaction  of  his  crimes  against  the  gov 
ernment  ;  and  the  breach  of  faith  on  the 
part  of  the  Cherokee  rulers  in  this  conspicu 
ous  instance  might  well  preclude  the  grant 
ing  of  any  reasonable  terms  of  peace  now, 
and  subject  the  whole  nation  to  added  hard 
ship. 

This  was  the  argument  advanced  by  Atta- 
Kulla-Kulla  as  he  stood  and  addressed  his 
colleagues,  who  sat  on  buffalo-skins  in  a 
circle  on  the  floor  of  the  council-house  of 
Citico,  —  the  usual  dome-shaped  edifice, 
daubed  within  and  without  with  the  rich 
red  clay  of  the  country,  and  situated  on  a 
high  artificial  mound  in  the  centre  of  the 
town. 

The  council-fire  alone  gave  light,  flashing 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    215 

upon  the  slender  figure  and  animated  face 
of  this  chief,  who,  although  of  slighter 
physique  and  lower  stature  than  his  com 
peers,  wielded  by  reason  of  his  more  intel 
lectual  qualities  so  potent  an  influence 
among  them. 

The  oratorical  gifts  of  Atta-Kulla-Kulla 
had  signally  impressed  Europeans  of  cul 
ture  and  experience.9  Imagine,  then,  the 
effect  on  the  raw  young  Highland  soldier, 
hearing  the  flow  of  language,  watching  the 
appropriate  and  forceful  gestures,  noting 
the  responsive  sentiment  in  the  fire-lit  coun 
tenances  of  the  circle  of  feather-crested 
Indians,  yet  comprehending  little  save  that 
it  was  a  masterpiece  of  cogent  reasoning, 
richly  eloquent,  and  that  every  word  was  as 
a  fagot  to  the  flames  and  a  pang  to  the 
torture. 

Attusah  of  Kanootare,  the  Northward 
Warrior,  rose  to  reply  in  defense  of  him 
self  and  his  captive,  and  Atta-Kulla-Kulla 
listened  as  courteously  as  the  rest,  although 
the  speech  of  the  ada-wehi  depended,  like 
the  oratory  of  many  young  men,  chiefly  on 
a  magical  assurance.  He  had  an  ally,  how 
ever,  in  the  dominant  superstition  of  the 


216    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

Ckerokees.  Numbers  of  the  warriors  now 
ascribed  their  recent  disasters  to  the  neglect 
of  various  omens,  or  the  omission  of  certain 
propitiatory  observances  of  their  ancient  re 
ligion,  or  the  perpetration  of  deeds  known 
to  be  adversely  regarded  by  the  ruling  spirits 
of  war. 

Moreover,  they  were  all  aware  that  this 
man  had  been  killed,  left  for  dead,  reported 
as  dead  to  the  British  government,  which 
accepted  the  satisfaction  thus  offered  for  his 
crimes,  —  the  deeds  themselves,  however, 
accounted  by  him  and  the  rest  of  the  tribe 
praiseworthy  and  the  achievements  of  war. 

And  here  he  was  protesting  that  he  was 
dead  and  a  ghost.  "  Akee-o-hoosa  !  Akee- 
o-hoosa!  Tsida-wei-yu  I "  he  cried  contin 
ually. 

Indeed,  this  seemed  to  be  the  only  reason 
able  method  of  accounting  for  the  renewed 
presence  in  the  world  of  a  man  known  to 
be  dead.  This  was  his  status,  he  argued. 
He  was  a  dead  man,  and  this  was  his  cap 
tive.  The  Cherokee  nation  could  not  pre 
tend  to  follow  with  its  control  the  actions 
of  a  dead  man.  They  themselves  had  pro 
nounced  him  dead.  He  had  no  place  in  the 


THE   CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    217 

war.  He  had  been  forbidden,  on  account 
of  his  official  death,  to  compete  for  the 
honors  of  the  campaign.  Apart  from  his 
former  status  as  a  Cherokee,  merely  as  a 
supernatural  being,  a  spirit,  an  ada-wehi, 
he  had  captured  this  British  soldier,  who 
was  therefore  the  property  of  a  dead  man. 
And  the  Cherokee  law  of  all  things  and 
before  all  things  forbade  interference  with 
the  effects  of  the  dead. 

Despite  the  curling  contempt  on  the  lip 
of  Atta-Kulla-Kulla  the  council  did  not  im 
mediately  acquiesce  in  his  view,  and  thus 
for  a  time  flattered  the  hope  of  the  ada- 
wehi  that  they  were  resting  in  suspension  on 
the  details  of  this  choice  argument.  There 
was  an  illogical  inversion  of  values  in  the 
experience  of  the  tribe,  and  while  they 
could  not  now  accept  the  worthless  fig 
ments  of  long  ago,  it  was  not  vouchsafed 
to  them  to  enjoy  the  substantial  merits  of 
the  new  order  of  things.  Reason,  powder, 
diplomacy,  had  brought  the  Cherokee  na 
tion  to  a  point  of  humiliation  to  which 
superstition,  savagery,  and  the  simplicities 
of  the  tomahawk  had  never  descended  in 
"  the  good  old  times."  Reason  was  never  so 


218    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

befuddled  of  aspect,  civilization  never  so 
undesired  as  now.  In  their  own  expanded 
outlook  at  life,  however,  they  could  not  af 
ford  to  ignore  the  views  of  Atta-Kulla- 
Kulla,  the  advocate  of  all  the  newer  methods, 
in  so  important  a  matter  as  the  release  of  a 
British  prisoner  of  war  on  the  strange  pre 
text  that  his  captor  was  a  ghost  of  a  pe 
culiar  spectral  power,  an  ada-wehi,  although 
this  course  would  have  been  more  agreeable 
to  the  "old  beloved"  theories  of  their  hal 
cyon  days  of  eld,  when  the  Cherokee  name 
was  a  terror  and  a  threat. 

Therefore,  averse  as  they  were  to  subscribe 
to  the  modern  methods  which  had  wrought 

o 

them  such  woe  and  humiliation  and  defeat, 
the  dominant  superstition  of  the  race  now 
fell  far  short  of  the  fantasy  of  liberating 
a  British  prisoner  at  this  crisis  under  the 
influence  of  any  spectral  manifestation 
whatsoever.  The  council  was  obviously 
steeled  against  this  proposition,  as  MacVin- 
tie  shortly  perceived,  and  equally  deter 
mined  that  the  ada-wehi  must  needs  exert 
phenomenal  and  magical  powers  indeed  to 
avoid  yet  making  good  the  nation's  pledge 
of  his  death  to  the  British  government,  and 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    219 

becoming  a  ghost  in  serious  earnest.  Mac- 
Vintie's  heart  sank  within  him  as  he  noted 
the  hardening  of  the  lines  of  their  grave 
harsh  faces  and  the  affirmative  nodding  of 
the  feather-crested  heads,  conferring  to 
gether,  as  the  decision  was  reached. 

It  accorded,  however,  with  their  ancient 
custom  to  postpone  over  a  night  the  execu 
tion  of  any  sentence  of  special  weight,  and 
therefore  the  council  adjourned  to  the  next 
day,  the  two  prisoners  being  left  in  the  de 
serted  building,  each  securely  bound  with  a 
rope  to  a  pillar  of  the  series  which  upheld 
the  roof  of  the  strange  circular  edifice. 
This  colonnade  stood  about  four  feet  from 
the  wall,  and  the  interval  between  was  oc 
cupied  by  a  divan,  fashioned  of  dexterously 
woven  cane,  extending  around  the  room ; 
and  as  the  prisoners  could  seat  themselves 
here,  or  lie  at  full  length,  they  were  sub 
jected  to  no  greater  hardship  than  was  con 
sistent  with  their  safe  custody. 

A  sentinel  with  his  musket  on  his  shoul- 

•  der  stood  at  the  door,  and   the  sun  was 

going  down.    Kenneth  MacVintie  could  see 

through  the  open  portal  the  red  glow  in 

the  waters  of  the  Tennessee  River.   Now  and 


220     THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

then  a  flake  of  a  glittering  white  density 
glided  through  it,  which  his  eyes,  accus 
tomed  to  long  distances,  discriminated  as  a 
swan.  Thunder-heads,  however,  were  gath 
ering  above  the  eastern  slopes  and  the 
mountains  were  a  lowering  slate-toned  pur 
ple,  save  when  a  sudden  flash  of  lightning 
roused  them  to  a  vivid  show  of  green. 

The  dull  red  hue  of  the  interior  of  the 
council-house  darkened  gradually ;  the  em 
bers  of  the  council-fire  faded  into  the  gray 
ash,  and  the  night  came  sullen  and  threat 
ening  before  its  time. 

The  young  Highlander  sought  to  bend 
his  mind  to  the  realization  that  his  days  on 
earth  were  well-nigh  ended,  and  that  it  be 
hooved  him  to  think  on  the  morrow  else 
where.  He  had  an  old-fashioned  religious 
faith  presumed  to  be  fitted  for  any  emer 
gency,  but  in  seeking  to  recall  its  dogmas 
and  find  such  consolation  in  its  theories  as 
might  sustain  a  martyr  at  the  stake,  he  was 
continually  distracted  with  the  momentous 
present. 

The  two  prisoners  could  no  longer  see 
each  other,  and  the  little  gestures  and  sig 
nificant  glances  which  had  supplemented 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI     221 

their  few  words,  and  made  up  for  the  lack 
of  better  conversational  facilities  were  im 
practicable  in  the  darkness. 

The  silent  obscurity  was  strangely  lonely. 
MacVintie  began  to  doubt  if  the  other  still 
lived. 

"  Attusah  !  "  he  said  at  length. 

"  Tsida-wei-yu ! "  (I  am  a  great  ada- 
wehi)  murmured  the  ghost  mechanically. 

He  was  quite  spent,  exhausted  by  the 
effort  to  logically  exist  as  a  ghost  in  a  world 
which  had  repudiated  him  as  a  live  man. 

MacVintie,  who  found  it  hard  enough  to 
reconcile  himself  to  die  once,  felt  a  poign 
ant  sympathy  for  him,  who  must  needs  die 
again.  But  the  Highlander  could  not  think. 
He  could  not  even  pray.  He  desisted  from 
the  fitful  effort  after  a  time.  He  had  a  de 
pressing  realization  that  a  good  soldier  relies 
upon  the  proficiency  acquired  by  the  daily 
drill  to  serve  in  an  emergency,  not  a  spe 
cial  effort  at  smartness  for  an  occasion. 
The  battle  or  the  review  would  show  the 
quality  of  the  stuff  that  was  in  him. 

Despite  the  stunned  despair  which  pos 
sessed  his  mental  faculties,  his  physical 
senses  were  keenly  acute.  He  marked  un- 


222    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

consciously  the  details  of  the  rising  of  the 
wind  bringing  the  storm  hitherward.  A 
searching  flash  of  lightning  showed  the  fig 
ure  of  the  sentinel,  half  crouching  before 
the  blast,  at  his  post  in  the  open  portal. 
The  rain  was  presently  falling  heavily,  and 
ever  and  anon  a  great  suffusion  of  yellow 
glare  in  its  midst  revealed  the  myriads  of 
slanting  lines  as  it  came.  He  inhaled  the 
freshened  fragrance  it  brought  from  the 
forests.  He  noted  the  repeated  crash  of 
the  thunder,  the  far-away  rote  of  the  echoes, 
the  rhythmic  beat  of  the  torrents  on  the 
ground,  and  their  tumultuous  swift  dash 
down  the  slope  of  the  dome-shaped  roof,  and 
suddenly  among  these  turmoils,  —  he  could 
hardly  believe  his  ears,  —  a  mild  little  whim 
per  of  protest. 

The  sentinel  heard  it  too.  MacVintie  saw 
his  dark  figure  in  the  doorway  as  he  turned 
his  head  to  listen.  A  woman's  voice  sounded 
immediately,  bidding  a  child  beware  how  he 
cried,  lest  she  call  the  great  white  owl,  the 
Oo-koo-ne-kah,  to  catch  him  ! 

The  flare  of  the  lightning  revealed  a 
pappoose  the  next  moment,  upright  in  his 
perpendicular  cradle,  as  it  swung  on  his 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    223 

mother's  back,  in  the  drenching  downpour 
of  the  rain,  for  the  woman  had  advanced 
to  the  sentinel  and  was  talking  loudly  and 
eagerly. 

Kenneth  silently  recognized  the  small 
creature  who  had  moved  him  to  a  trivial 
charity  which  had  resulted  in  so  strangely 
disproportionate  a  disaster.  Doubtless,  how 
ever,  the  squaws  would  never  have  been  able 
to  return  to  their  accustomed  place  but  for 
the  food  which  he  had  given  them,  sustain 
ing  them  on  the  journey  home. 

It  would  imply  some  mission  of  impor 
tance  surely,  he  thought,  to  induce  the  wo 
man  to  expose  the  child  to  a  tempest  like 
this ;  and  indeed  the  pappoose,  buffeted  by 
the  wind,  the  rain  full  in  his  face,  lifted  up 
his  voice  again  in  a  protest  so  loud  and  ve 
hement  that  his  mother  was  enabled  to  see 
the  great  white  owl,  whose  business  it  is  to 
remove  troublesome  little  Cherokees  from 
the  sphere  of  worry  of  their  elders,  already 
winging  his  way  hither.  One  might  won 
der  if  the  Oo-koo-ne-kah  would  do  worse  for 
him  than  his  maternal  guardian,  but  pelted 
by  the  pitiless  rain  he  promptly  sank  his 
Heatings  to  a  mere  babble  of  a  whimper. 


224    THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

Thereby  Kenneth  was  better  enabled  to  hear 
what  the  woman  was  saying  to  the  sentinel. 

An  important  mission  indeed,  as  Mac- 
V  in  tie  presently  gathered,  for  she  must 
needs  lift  her  voice  stridently  to  be  heard 
above  the  din  of  the  elements.  Some  pow 
der,  only  a  little  it  was  true,  had  been  sent 
by  the  French  to  the  town,  and  a  share  had 
been  left  at  the  house  of  the  sentinel  that 
night  in  the  general  distribution.  But  there 
was  no  one  at  home.  All  his  family  were 
across  the  mountains,  whither,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  Cherokees,  they  had  gone 
to  find  and  bring  back  the  body  of  his 
brother,  who  had  been  killed  in  the  fight 
at  Etchoee.  And  the  leak  in  the  roof  !  She, 
his  nearest  neighbor,  had  just  bethought 
herself  of  the  leak  in  the  roof  !  Would  not 
the  powder,  the  precious  powder,  be  ruined? 
Had  he  not  best  go  to  see  at  once  about  it  ? 

He  hesitated,  letting  the  butt  of  his  gun 
sink  to  the  ground.  She  seized  the  weapon 
promptly.  She  would  stand  guard  here  till 
he  returned,  she  promised.  The  prisoners 
were  bound.  They  could  not  move.  It 
would  require  but  an  instant's  absence,  — 
and  the  powder  was  so  scarce,  so  precious ! 


THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI    225 

The  next  moment  the  sentinel  was  gone  ! 
The  darkness  descended,  doubly  intense, 
after  a  succession  of  electric  flashes ;  the 
rain  fell  with  renewed  force.  MacVintie 
suddenly  heard  the  babbling  whimper  quite 
close  beside  him,  somewhat  subdued  by  a 
fierce  maternal  admonition  to  listen  to  the 
terrible  voice  of  the  Oo-koo-ne-kah,  coming 
to  catch  a  Cherokee  cry-baby  ! 

A  stroke  of  a  knife  here  and  there,  and 
the  two  prisoners  were  freed  from  their 
bonds.  The  Highland  soldier  did  not  know 
whether  Attusah  looked  back  while  in  flight, 
but  his  last  glimpse  of  the  Cherokee  town 
of  Citico  showed  the  broad  glare  of  light 
ning  upon  the  groups  of  conical  roofs  in 
the  slanting  lines  of  rain  ;  the  woman  on 
the  high  mound  at  the  portal  of  the  coun 
cil-house,  with  the  pappoose  on  her  back 
and  the  gun  in  her  hand ;  the  sentinel  once 
more  climbing  the  ascent  to  his  post.  And 
the  last  words  he  heard  were  chronicling 
the  adverse  sentiments  entertained  toward 
bad  children  by  the  Oo-koo-ne-kah,  the 
mysterious  great  white  owl. 

The  escape  was  not  discovered  till  the 
next  day,  and  was  universally  attributed  to 


226     THE  CAPTIVE  OF  THE  ADA-WEHI 

the  magic  of  the  ada-wehi.  Even  the  senti 
nel  himself  doubted  naught,  having  left  a 
trusty  deputy  in  his  stead,  for  the  devotion 
of  the  Cherokee  women  to  the  tribal  cause 
was  proverbial,  and  gratitude,  even  for  a  res 
cue  from  starvation,  is  not  usually  an  urgent 
motive  power. 

Kenneth  Mac  Vintie  was  seen  again  in  the 
Cherokee  country  only  in  his  place  as  a 
marker  in  the  march  of  his  regiment,  and 
as  he  was  evidently  exceedingly  desirous  to 
permit  no  one  to  incur  penalties  for  his  lib 
eration,  his  officers  spared  him  questions  con 
cerning  his  escape,  save  in  a  general  way. 

When  the  ada-wehi  next  reappeared  in  a 
remote  town  of  the  district  and  was  sedu 
lously  interrogated  as  to  how  his  freedom 
had  been  achieved,  he  threw  out  his  right 
hand  at  arm's  length  in  his  old,  boastful,  airy 
gesture. 

"  Cheesto  kaiere  !  "  (An  old  rabbit !)  he 
exclaimed.  "  A  little  old  rabbit  ran  down 
the  slope.  I  turned  the  soldier  into  a  rabbit, 
and  he  ran  away.  And  I  turned  myself  into 
a  fish,  and  I  swam  away.  Ha  !  Tsida-wei- 
yu  !  "  (I  am  a  great  ada-wehi !) 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEEBA- 
TAGHE 


THE  FATE  OF  THE 
CHEERA-TAGHE 

ALONG  the  old  "  trading-path  "  that  was 
wont  to  wind  from  the  Cherokee  country 
among  the  innumerable  spurs  and  gorges  of 
the  Great  Smoky  Mountains,  and  through 
the  dense  primeval  forests  full  five  hundred 
miles  to  the  city  of  Charlestown,  was  visible 
for  many  years,  on  the  banks  of  the  Little 
Tennessee,  an  "old  waste  town," as  the  aban 
doned  place  was  called  in  the  idiom  of  the 
Indians.  An  early  date  it  might  seem,  in 
1744,  in  this  new  land,  for  the  spectacle  of 
the  ruins  of  a  race  still  in  possession,  still 
unsubdued.  Nearly  twenty  years  later,  after 
the  repeated  aggressive  expeditions  which 
the  British  government  sent  against  the 
Cherokees,  such  vestiges  became  more  numer 
ous.  This  "  waste  town,  "  however,  neither 
fire  nor  sword  had  desolated,  and  the  grim 
deeds  of  British  powder  and  lead  were  still 
of  the  future.  The  enemy  came  in  more  sub 
tle  sort. 


230     THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

Only  one  of  the  white  pack-men  employed 
to  drive  a  score  of  well-laden  horses  semi- 
annually  from  Charlestown  to  a  trading-sta 
tion  farther  along  on  the  Great  Tennessee  — 
then  called  the  Cherokee  River  —  and  back 
again  used  to  glower  fearfully  at  the  u  waste 
town  "as  he  passed.  He  had  ample  leisure 
for  speculation,  for  the  experienced  animals 
of  the  pack-train  required  scant  heed,  so 
regularly  they  swung  along  in  single  file, 
and  the  wild  whoops  of  their  drivers  were 
for  the  sake  of  personal  encouragement  and 
the  simple  joy  which  very  young  men  find 
in  their  own  clamor.  It  grew  specially  bois 
terous  always  when  they  neared  the  site  of 
Nilaque  Great,  the  deserted  place,  as  if  to 
give  warning  to  any  vague  spiritual  essences, 
unmeet  for  mortal  vision,  that  might  be  lurk 
ing  about  the  "  waste  town,"  and  bid  them 
avaunt,  for  the  place  was  reputed  haunted. 

The  rest  of  the  Carolina  pack-men,  troop 
ing  noisily  past,  averted  their  eyes  from  the 
darkened  doors  of  the  empty  houses ;  the 
weed-grown  spaces  of  the  "beloved  square/' 
where  once  the  ceremonies  of  state,  the  re 
ligious  rites,  the  public  games  and  dances 
were  held ;  the  council-house  on  its  high 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE    231 

mound,  whence  had  been  wont  to  issue  the 
bland  vapors  of  the  pipe  of  peace  or  the  far 
more  significant  smoke  emitted  from  the 
cheera,  the  "  sacred  fire/'  which  only  the 
cheera-taghe,  the  fire-prophets,10  were  per 
mitted  to  kindle,  and  which  was  done  with 
pomp  and  ceremony  in  the  new  year,  when 
every  spark  of  the  last  year's  fire  had  been 
suffered  to  die  out. 

Cuthbert  Barnett,  however,  always  looked 
to  see  what  he  might,  —  perhaps  because  he 
was  a  trifle  bolder  than  the  other  stalwart 
pack-men,  all  riding  armed  to  the  teeth  to 
guard  the  goods  of  the  train  from  robbery 
as  well  as  their  own  lives  from  treachery, 
for  although  the  Cherokees  professed  friend 
ship  it  was  but  half-hearted,  as  they  loved 
the  French  always  better  than  the  English ; 
perhaps  because  he  had  a  touch  of  imagi 
nation  that  coerced  his  furtive  glance ;  per 
haps  because  he  doubted  more,  or  believed 
less,  of  the  traditions  of  the  day.  And  he 
saw  —  silence  !  the  sunset  in  vacant  spaces, 
with  long,  slanting,  melancholy  rays  among 
the  scattered  houses  of  the  hamlet ;  an 
empty  doorway,  here  and  there ;  a  fall 
ing  rotting  roof ;  futile  traces  of  vanished 


232    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

homes.  Once  a  deer  and  fawn  were  graz 
ing  in  the  weed-grown  fields  that  used  to 
stand  so  thick  with  corn  that  they  laughed 
and  sung;  once  —  it  was  close  upon  win 
ter —  he  heard  a  bear  humming  and  hum 
ming  his  content  (the  hunters  called  the 
sound  "  singing  ")  from  the  den  where  the 
animal  had  bestowed  himself  among  the 
fallen  logs  of  a  dwelling-house,  half  cov 
ered  with  great  drifts  of  dead  leaves ;  often 
an  owl  would  cry  out  in  alarm  from  some 
dark  nook  as  the  pack-train  clattered  past ; 
and  once  a  wolf  with  a  stealthy  and  sinister 
tread  was  patrolling  the  "  beloved  square." 
These  were  but  the  natural  incidents  of  the 
time  and  the  ruins  of  the  old  Cherokee  town. 
Little  did  Cuddy  Barnett  imagine,  as  he 
gazed  on  the  deserted  and  desolate  place, 
that  he  was  yet  to  behold  the  smoke  of 
the  "  sacred  fire "  flaring  up  into  the  blue 
sky  from  the  portal  of  the  temple,  as  the 
cheera-taghe  would  issue  bearing  the  flame 
aloft,  newly  kindled  in  the  opening  year,  and 
calling  upon  many  assembled  people  to  light 
therefrom  their  hearths,  rekindling  good 
resolutions  and  religious  fervor  for  the  fu 
ture,  and  letting  the  faults  of  the  unavail- 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  233 

ing  past  die  out  with  the  old  year's  fire; 
that  he  was  to  mark  the  clash  of  arms  in 
the  "  beloved  square/'  once  more  populous 
with  the  alert  figures  of  warriors  in  mar 
tial  array,  making  ready  for  the  war-path  ; 
that  he  was  to  hear  the  joyful  religious 
songs  of  greeting  to  the  dawn,  and  the 
sonorous  trumpeting  of  the  conch-shells,  as 
the  vanished  Indians  of  the  "  old  waste 
town  "  would  troop  down  at  daybreak  into 
the  water  of  that  bright  stream  where  long 
ago  they  had  been  wont  to  plunge  in  their 
mystic  religious  ablutions.  All  this,  how 
ever,  the  pack-men  might  see  and  hear,  to 
believe  the  tradition  of  the  day,  in  camping 
but  a  single  night  near  the  old  "waste 
town." 

And  so  anxious  were  these  gay  itinerant 
companies  to  see  and  hear  nothing  of  such 
ghostly  sort  that  whatever  the  stress  of  the 
weather,  the  mischances  of  the  journey,  the 
condition  of  the  pack-animals,  this  vicinity 
was  always  distinguished  by  the  longest 
day's  travel  of  the  whole  route,  and  the 
camp  was  pitched  at  the  extreme  limit  of 
the  endurance  of  man  and  horse  to  compass 
distance  from  Nilaque  Great.  For  believe 


234  THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

what  one  might,  the  fact  remained  indisput 
able,  that  a  decade  earlier,  when  the  place 
was  inhabited,  strange  sounds  were  rife  about 
the  locality,  the  "  sacred  fire  "  was  unkin- 
dled  on  the  great  "  Sanctified  Day,"  the 
two  cheera-taghe  of  the  town  mysteriously 
disappeared,  and  their  fate  had  remained 
a  dark  riddle. 

One  of  these  men,  Oo-koo-koo,  was  well 
known  in  Charlestown.  Both  were  of  influ 
ence  in  the  tribe,  but  often  he  had  been 
specially  chosen  as  one  of  the  delegations 
of  warriors  and  "beloved  men"  sent  to 
wait  in  diplomatic  conference  on  the  Gov 
ernor  of  South  Carolina,  to  complain  of  in 
justice  in  the  dealings  of  the  licensed  tra 
ders  or  the  encroachments  of  the  frontier 
settlers,  or  to  crave  the  extension  of  some 
privilege  of  the  treaty  which  the  Cherokee 
tribe  had  lately  made  with  the  British  gov 
ernment. 

Two  white  men,  who  had  become  con 
spicuous  in  a  short  stay  in  the  town  of 
Nilaque  Great,  disappeared  simultaneously, 
and  the  suspicion  of  foul  dealing  on  their 
part  against  the  cheera-taghe,  which  the 
Cherokee  nation  seemed  disposed  to  enter- 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  235 

tain,  threatened  at  one  time  the  peace  that 
was  so  precious  to  the  "infant  settlements/' 
as  the  small,  remote,  stockaded  stations  of 
the  Carolina  frontiersmen  were  tenderly 
called. 

Therefore  the  Governor  of  South  Caro 
lina,  now  a  royal  province,  —  the  event  oc 
curred  during  the  incumbency  of  Robert 
Johnson,  who  having  acted  in  that  capacity 
for  the  Lords  Proprietors,  well  understood 
the  menace  of  the  situation,  —  busied  him 
self  with  extreme  diligence  to  discover  the 
subsequent  movements  of  the  two  white 
men,  whose  names  were  Terence  O'Kim- 
mon  and  Adrien  L'Epine,  in  order  to  ascer 
tain  the  fate  of  the  cheera-taghe,  and  if 
evilly  entreated,  to  bring  the  perpetrators 
of  the  deed  to  justice. 

With  a  long,  unguarded,  open  frontier 
such  as  his  province  presented  to  the  incur 
sions  of  the  warlike  and  fierce  Cherokees, 
who,  despite  their  depopulating  wars  with 
other  tribes,  could  still  bring  to  the  field 
six  thousand  braves  from  their  sixty-four 
towns,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  esti 
mated  at  twenty  thousand  souls,  he  was  by 
no  means  disposed  to  delay  or  to  indulge 


236    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

doubts  or  to  foster  compatriot  commisera 
tion  in  meting  out  the  penalty  of  the  male 
factors.  The  united  militia  of  South  Caro 
lina  and  Georgia  at  this  time  numbered  but 
thirty  -  five  hundred  rank  and  file,  these 
colonies  being  so  destitute  of  white  men 
for  the  common  defense  that  a  memorial 
addressed  to  his  majesty  King  George  II. 
a  little  earlier  than  this  event,  bearing 
date  April  9,  1734,  pathetically  states  that 
"  money  itself  cannot  here  raise  a  sufficient 
body  of  them."  The  search  for  the  sus 
pects,  however,  although  long,  exhaustive, 
and  of  such  diligence  as  to  convince  the 

o 

Indians  of  its  sincerity  of  purpose,  resulted 
fruitlessly.  The  government  presently  took 
occasion  to  made  some  valuable  presents  to 
the  tribe,  not  as  indemnity,  for  it  could  re 
cognize  no  responsibility  in  the  strange  dis 
aster,  but  for  the  sake  of  seeming  to  comply 
with  the  form  of  offering  satisfaction  for 
the  loss,  which  otherwise  the  Indians  would 
retaliate  with  massacre. 

Nilaque  Great  with  this  cloud  upon  it 
grew  dreary.  The  strange  disappearance  of 
its  cheera-taghe  was  canvassed  again  and 
again,  reaching  no  surmise  of  the  truth. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  237 

Speculations,  futile  as  they  were  continu 
ous,  began  to  be  reinforced  with  reminis 
cences  of  the  date  of  the  event,  and  certain 
episodes  became  strangely  significant  now, 
although  hardly  remarked  at  the  time; 
people  remembered  unexplained  and  curious 
noises  that  had  sounded  like  muffled  thun 
der  in  the  deep  midnight,  and  again,  scarcely 
noted,  in  the  broad  daylight.  The  "  sacred 
fire  "  remained  unkindled,  and  sundry  mis 
fortunes  were  attributed  to  this  unprece 
dented  neglect ;  an  expert  warrior,  young 
and  notably  deft-handed,  awkwardly  shot 
himself  with  his  own  gun ;  the  crops,  cut 
short  by  a  late  and  long-continued  drought, 
were  so  meagre  as  to  be  hardly  worth  the 
harvesting ;  the  days  appointed  for  the  an 
nual  feasts  and  thanksgiving  were  like  days 
of  mourning ;  discontents  waxed  and  grew 
strong.  Superstitious  terrors  became  rife, 
and  at  length  it  was  known  at  Charles- 
town  that  the  Cherokees  of  Nilaque  Great 
had  settled  a  new  place  farther  down  upon 
the  river,  for  at  the  old  town  the  vanished 
cheera-taghe  were  abroad  in  the  spirit,  per 
vading  the  "  beloved  square  "  at  night  with 
cries  of  "  A-kee-o-hoo-sa  !  A-kee-o-hoo-sa!  " 


238    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

(I  am  dead  !  I  am  dead  !)  clamoring  for 
their  graves  and  the  honors  of  sepulture  due 
to  them  and  denied.  And  this  was  a  grief 
to  the  head  men  of  the  town,  for  of  all  tribes 
the  Cherokees  loved  and  revered  their  dead. 
Thus  when  other  cheera-taghe  kindled  for 
the  municipality  the  "  sacred  fire  "  for  a  new 
year  it  was  distributed  to  hearths  far  away, 
and  Nilaque  Great,  deserted  and  depopu 
lated,  had  become  a  "  waste  town." 

A  fair  place  it  had  been  in  its  prime,  and 
so  it  had  seemed  one  afternoon  in  June, 
1734,  when  for  the  first  time  the  two  white 
strangers  had  entered  it.  Mountains  more 
splendid  than  those  which  rose  about  it  on 
every  hand  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine. 
The  dense,  rich  woods  reach  in  undiminished 
vigor  along  the  slopes  covering  them  at  a 
height  of  six  thousand  feet,  till  the  "tree 
line "  interposes  ;  thence  the  great  bare 
domes  lift  their  stately  proportions  among 
the  clouds.  Along  these  lofty  perspectives 
the  varying  distance  affords  the  vision  a  vast 
array  of  gradations  of  color,  —  green  in  a 
thousand  shades,  and  bronze,  and  purple, 
and  blue,  —  blue  growing  ever  fainter  and 
more  remote  till  it  is  but  an  illusion  of 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  239 

azure,  and  one  may  believe  that  the  summits 
seen  through  a  gap  to  the  northeast  are 
sheer  necromancy  of  the  facile  horizon. 

In  the  deep  verdant  cove  below,  groups 
of  the  giant  trees  common  to  the  region 
towered  above  the  stanchly  constructed 
cabins  that  formed  the  homes  of  the  Indians, 
for  the  Cherokees,  detesting  labor  and  ex 
perts  in  procrastination,  builded  well  and 
wisely  that  they  might  not  be  forced  to 
rebuild,  and  many  of  the  distinctive  fea 
tures  of  the  stout  frontier  architecture 
were  borrowed  by  the  pioneers  from  ab 
original  example.  Out  beyond  the  shad 
ows  were  broad  stretches  of  fields  with  the 
lush  June  in  the  wide  and  shining  blade 
and  the  flaunting  tassel.  The  voices  of  wo 
men  and  young  girls  came  cheerily  from 
the  breezy  midst  as  they  tilled  the  ground, 
where  flourished  in  their  proper  divisions 
the  three  varieties  of  maize  known  to  In 
dian  culture,  "  the  six  weeks'  corn,  the  hom 
iny  corn,  and  the  bread  corn."  A  shoal  of 
canoes  skimmed  down  the  river,  each  with 
its  darting  shadow  upon  that  lucent  current 
and  seeming  as  native,  as  indigenous  to  the 
place  as  the  minnows  in  a  crystal  brown 


240    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

pool  there  by  the  waterside  —  each  too  with 
its  swift  javelin-like  motion  and  a  darting 
shadow.  Sundry  open  doors  here  and  there 
showed  glimpses  of  passing  figures  within, 
but  the  arrival  of  the  strangers  was  un 
noticed  till  some  children  playing  beside 
the  river  caught  sight  of  the  unaccustomed 
faces.  With  a  shrill  cry  of  discovery,  they 
sped  across  the  square,  agitated  half  by 
fright  and  half  by  the  gusto  of  novelty.  In 
another  moment  there  were  two  score  armed 
men  in  the  square. 

"  Now  hould  yer  tongue  still,  an'  I  '11  do 
the  talkin',"  said  one  of  the  white  adven 
turers  to  the  other,  speaking  peremptorily, 
but  with  a  suave  and  delusive  smile.  "If 
yez  were  n't  Frinch  ye  'd  be  a  beautiful 
Englishman  ;  but  I  hev  got  the  advantage 
of  ye  in  that,  an'  faix  I  '11  kape  it." 

He  was  evidently  of  a  breeding  inferior 
to  that  of  his  companion,  but  he  had  so 
sturdy  and  swinging  a  gait,  so  stalwart  and 
goodly  a  build,  so  engaging  a  manner,  and 
so  florid  a  smile,  that  the  very  sight  of  him 
was  disarming,  despite  the  patent  crafty  de 
ceit  in  his  face.  It  seemed  as  if  it  could 
not  be  very  deep  or  guileful,  it  was  so 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE     241 

frankly  expressed.  It  was  suggestive  of  the 
roguish  machinations  of  a  child.  He  had 
twinkling  brown  eyes,  and  reddish  hair, 
plaited  in  a  club  and  tied  with  a  thong  of 
leather.  His  features  were  blunt,  but  his  red, 
well-shaped  lips  parted  in  a  ready,  reassuring 
smile,  and  showed'  teeth  as  even  and  white 
as  the  early  corn.  Both  men  were  arrayed 
in  the  buckskin  shirt  and  leggings  gen 
erally  worn  by  the  frontiersmen,  but  the 
face  of  the  other  had  a  certain  incongruity 
with  his  friend's,  and  was  more  difficult  to 
decipher.  It  looked  good,  —  not  kind,  but 
true.  It  had  severe  pragmatic  lines  about 
the  mouth,  and  the  lips  were  thin  and  some 
what  fixedly  set.  His  eyes  were  dark,  seri 
ous,  and  very  intent,  as  if  he  could  argue 
and  protest  very  earnestly  on  matters  of  no 
weight.  He  would  in  a  question  of  theory 
go  very  far  if  set  on  the  wrong  line,  and 
just  as  far  on  the  right.  The  direction  was 
the  matter  of  great  moment,  and  this  seemed 
now  in  the  hands  of  the  haphazard  but 
scheming  Irishman. 

"  If  it  plaze  yer  honor,  "  said  O'Kimmon 
in  English,  taking  off  his  coonskin  cap  with 
a  lavish  flourish  as  a  tall  and  stately  Indian 


242  THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

hastily  garbed  in  fine  raiment  of  the  aborigi 
nal  type,  a  conspicuous  article  of  which  was 
a  long  feather-wrought  mantle,  both  brilliant 
and  delicate  of  effect,  detached  himself  from 
the  group  and  came  forward,  "  I  can't  spake 
yer  illigant  language,  —  me  eddication  bein' 
that  backward,  —  but  I  kin  spake  me  own 
so  eloquent  that  it  would  make  a  gate-post 
prick  up  the  ears  of  understanding.  We  Ve 
come  to  visit  yez,  sor." 

The  smile  which  the  Hibernian  bent  upon 
the  savage  was  of  a  honeyed  sweetness,  but 
the  heart  of  his  companion  sank  as  he  sud 
denly  noted  the  keen,  intuitive  power  of 
comprehension  expressed  in  the  face  of  the 
old  Indian.  Here  was  craft  too,  but  of  a 
different  quality,  masked,  potent,  impossible 
to  divine,  to  measure,  to  thwart.  The  sage 
Oo-koo-koo  stood  motionless,  his  eyes  nar 
rowing,  his  long, flat,  cruel  mouth  compressed 
as  with  a  keen  scrutiny  he  marked  all  the 
characteristics  of  the  strangers,  —  first  of 
one,  then  deliberately  of  the  other.  A  war 
captain  (his  flighty  name  was  Watatuga, 
the  Dragon-fly,  although  he  looked  with  his 
high  nose  and  eagle  glance  more  like  a  bird 
of  prey),  assuming  precedence  of  the  others, 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE    243 

pressed  up  beside  the  prophet,  and  the  chal 
lenge  of  his  eyes  and  the  contempt  that  di 
lated  his  nostrils  might  have  seemed  more 
formidable  of  intent  than  the  lacerating  gaze 
of  the  cheera-taghe,  except  that  to  an  Irish 
man  there  is  always  a  subtle  joy  even  in 
the  abstract  idea  of  fight.  The  rest  of  the 
braves,  with  their  alert,  high-featured  cast 
of  countenance,  inimical,  threatening,  clus 
tered  about,  intent,  doubtful,  listening. 

Adrien  L'fipine  had  his  secret  doubts  as 
to  the  efficacy  of  the  bold,  blunt,  humorous 
impudence  which  Terence  O'Kimmon  fan 
cied  such  masterful  policy,  —  taking  now 
special  joy  in  the  fact  that  its  meaning  was 
partially  veiled  because  of  the  presumable 
limitations  of  the  Indian's  comprehension  of 
the  English  language.  The  more  delicate 
nurture  that  L'Epine  obviously  had  known 
revolted  at  times  from  this  unkempt  brus- 
querie,  although  he  had  a  strong  pulse  of 
sympathy  with  the  wild,  lawless  disregard  of 
conventional  standards  which  characterized 
much  of  the  frontier  life.  He  feared,  too, 
that  O'Kimmon  underrated  the  extent  of 
the  Cherokee's  comprehension  of  the  lan 
guage  of  which,  however,  the  Indians  gener- 


244  THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

ally  spoke  only  a  few  disconnected  phrases. 
So  practiced  were  the  savages  in  all  the  arts 
of  pantomime,  in  the  interpretation  of  facial 
expression  and  the  intonation  of  the  voice, 
that  L'Epine  had  known  in  his  varied  wan 
derings  of  instances  of  tribes  in  conference, 
each  ignorant  of  the  other's  language,  who 
nevertheless  reached  a  definite  and  intricate 
mutual  understanding  without  the  services 
of  an  interpreter.  L'Epine  felt  entrapped, 
regretful,  and  wished  to  recede.  He  winced 
palpably  as  O'Kimmon's  rich  Irish  voice,  full 
of  words,  struck  once  more  upon  the  air. 

"  Me  godson,  the  Governor  o'  South  Car 
olina,"  Terence  O'Kimmon  resumed,  lying 
quite  recklessly,  "sint  his  humble  respects, 
—  an'  he 's  that  swate  upon  yez  that  he  licks 
his  fingers  ter  even  sphake  yer  name  !  (Pity 
I  furgits  ut,  bein'  I  never  knew  ut !) " 

Although  possessing  an  assurance  that  he 
could  get  the  better  of  the  devil, "  could  he 
but  identify  him,"  as  O'Kimmon  frequently 
said,  he  felt  for  one  moment  as  if  he  were 
now  in  the  presence.  Despite  his  nerve  the 
silence  terrified  him.  He  was  beginning  to 
cringe  before  the  steady  glare  of  those  search 
ing  eyes.  It  was  even  as  a  refreshment  of 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  245 

spirit  to  note  a  sudden  bovine  snort  of  rage 
from  the  lightsome  Dragon-fly,  as  if  he  could 
ill  bridle  his  inimical  excitement. 

The  adventurers  had  not  anticipated  a 
reception  of  this  sort,  for  the  hospitality 
of  the  Indians  was  proverbial.  Credentials 
surely  were  not  necessary  in  the  social  cir 
cles  of  the  Cherokees,  and  two  men  to  six 
thousand  offered  no  foundation  for  fear. 
O'Kimmon  had  such  confidence  in  his  own 
propitiating  wiles  and  crafty  policy  that  he 
did  not  realize  how  his  genial  deceit  was 
emblazoned  upon  his  face,  how  blatant  it 
was  in  his  voice.  But  for  its  challenging 
duplicity  there  would  hardly  have  arisen  a 
suggestion  of  suspicion.  Many  men  on  vari 
ous  errands  easily  found  their  way  into  the 
Indian  tribes  when  at  peace  with  the  Brit 
ish,  and  suffered  no  injury.  Nevertheless  as 
the  wise  Oo-koo-koo  looked  at  O'Kimmon 
thus  steadily,  with  so  discerning  a  gaze,  the 
Irishman  felt  each  red  hair  of  his  scalp  rise 
obtrusively  into  notice,  as  if  to  suggest  the 
instant  taking  of  it.  He  instinctively  put  on 
his  coonskin  cap  again  to  hold  his  scalp 
down,  as  he  said  afterward. 

"  Why  come  ?  "  Oo-koo-koo  demanded 
sternly. 


246  THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

"  Tell  the  truth,  for  God's  sake  !  "  L'Epine 
adjured  O'Kimmon  in  a  low  voice. 

"  I  'm  not  used  to  it !  'T  would  give  me 
me  death  o'  cold  !  "  quavered  the  Irishman, 
in  sad  sincerity,  at  a  grievous  loss. 

"  Asgaya  uneka  (White  man),  hut  no 
Ingliss,"  said  the  astute  Indian,  touching 
the  breast  of  each  with  the  bowl  of  his  pipe, 
still  in  his  hand  and  still  alight  as  it  was 
when  the  interruption  of  their  advent  had 
occurred. 

"  No,  by  the  powers,  —  not  English  !  " 
exclaimed  the  Irishman  impulsively,  seeing 
he  was  already  discovered.  "  I  'm  me  own 
glorious  nation  !  —  the  pride  o'  the  worruld, 
—  I  was  born  in  the  Emerald  Isle,  the  gem 
o'  the  say !  I  'm  an  Oirishman  from  the  tip  o' 
me  scalp  —  in  the  name  o'  pity  why  should 
I  mintion  the  contrivance  "  (dropping  his 
voice  to  an  appalled  muffled  tone)  —  may 
the  saints  purtect  ut !  But  surely,  Mister 
Injun,  I  've  no  part  nor  lot  with  the  bloody 
bastes  o'  English  ers  either  over  the  say  or 
in  the  provinces.  If  I  were  the  brother-in- 
law  o'  the  Governor  o'  South  Carolina  I  'd 
hev  a  divorce  from  the  murtherin'  Englisher 
before  he  could  cry,  '  Quarter  ! ' 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  247 

Oo-koo-koo,  the  wise  Owl,  made  no  direct 
answer. 

"  Asgaya  uneka  (White  man),  but  no 
Ingliss,"  he  only  said,  now  indicating 
L'fipine. 

"  Frinch  in  the  mornin',  plaze  yer  wor 
ship,  an'  only  a  bit  o'  English  late  in  the 
afternoon  o'  the  day,"  cried  O'Kimmon,  of 
ficiously,  himself  once  more. 

"  French  father,  English  mother,  "  ex 
plained  L'Epine,  feeling  that  the  Indian  was 
hardly  a  safe  subject  for  the  pleasantries  of 
conundrums. 

"  But  his  mother  was  but  a  wee  bit  of  a 
woman,  "  urged  O'Kimmon  ;  "  the  most  of 
him  is  Frinch,  —  look  at  the  size  of  him  !  " 

For  O'Kimmon  was  now  bidding  as  high 
against  the  English  aegis  as  earlier  he  had 
been  disposed  to  claim  its  protection,  when 
he  had  protested  his  familiarity  with  the 
Royal  Governor  of  South  Carolina.  In  an 
instant  he  was  once  more  gay,  impudent, 
confident  of  carrying  everything  before  him. 
He  divined  that  some  recent  friction  had 
supervened  in  the  ever-clashing  interests 
subsisting  between  the  Cherokee  nation  and 
the  British  government,  and  was  relying 


248     THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

on  the  recurrent  inclination  of  this  tribe  to 
fraternize  with  the  French.  Their  influence 
from  their  increasing  western  settlements  was 
exerted  antagonistically  to  the  British  colo 
nists,  by  whom  it  was  dreaded  in  anticipation 
of  the  war  against  a  French  and  Cherokee 
alliance  which  came  later.  Oo-koo-koo,  com 
placent  in  his  own  sagacity  in  having  detected 
a  difference  in  the  speech  of  the  new-comers 
from  the  English  which  he  had  been  accus 
tomed  to  hear  in  Charlestown,  and  animated 
by  a  wish  to  believe,  hearkened  with  the 
more  credulity  to  an  expansive  fiction  de 
tailed  by  the  specious  Irishman  as  to  their 
mission  here. 

They  were  awaiting  the  coming  of  cer 
tain  pettiaugres  from  New  Orleans,  —  a 
long  journey  by  way  of  the  Mississippi, 
the  Ohio,  the  Cherokee,  and  the  Tennessee 
rivers,  —  with  a  cargo  of  French  goods 
cheaper  than  the  English.  They  designed 
to  establish  a  trading-post  at  some  con 
venient  point,  out  of  reach  of  the  grasp 
ing  British,  and  thus  to  compete  with  the 
monopoly  of  the  Cherokee  commerce  which 
the  English  government  sought  to  foster. 
And  then,  to  furnish  a  leaven  of  truth  to 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  249 

this  mass  of  lies,  he  detailed,  with  such  a 
relish  as  only  an  Irishman  can  feel  in  a 
happy  incongruity,  that  the  French,  having 
no  market  in  old  France  for  deerskins,  the 
chief  commodity  of  barter  that  the  Indians 
possessed,  disposed  of  them  to  ships  of  the 
British  colonies,  from  New  York  and  else 
where,  lured  thus  to  New  Orleans,  in  ex 
change  for  English  cloths  and  other  British 
manufactures,  which  the  French  then  sur 
reptitiously  furnished  to  the  Indians  of  the 
British  alliance,  underselling  them  on  every 
hand. 

"  The  intellects  of  the  Frinch  are  so 
handsome  !  "  cried  O'Kimmon,  the  tears  of 
delighted  laughter  in  his  eyes.  "Faix, 
that  is  what  makes  'em  so  close  kin  to  the 
Oirish ! " 

Albeit  the  Cherokee  treaty  with  the  Brit 
ish  forbade  the  Indians  to  trade  with  white 
men  of  any  other  nationality  than  the  Eng 
lish,  these  professed  aliens  were  promised 
protection  and  concealment  from  the  Brit 
ish  government,  and  the  pretext  of  their 
mission  served  to  countenance  their  linger 
ing  stay. 

Soon  their  presence  seemed  a  matter  of 


250  THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

course.  The  Indians  had  recurred  to  their 
methods  of  suave  hospitality.  The  two 
strangers  encountered  only  friendly  looks 
and  words,  while  affecting  to  gratify  curi 
osity  by  peering  into  all  the  unaccustomed 
habitudes,  —  the  preparation  of  food,  the 
manufacture  of  deerskin  garments,  the  care 
of  the  sick,  the  modeling  of  bowls  and  jars 
of  clay,  in  which  the  Cherokees  were  notably 
expert  as  well  as  in  the  weaving  of  feather- 
wrought  fabrics  and  baskets,  the  athletic 
games,  the  horse-races,  the  continual  dances 
and  pantomimic  plays,  —  and  were  presently 
domiciled  as  it  were  in  the  tribe.  Of  so 
little  note  did  they  soon  become  that  when 
they  gradually  ceased  these  manifestations 
of  interest,  as  if  familiarity  had  sated  their 
curiosity,  it  seemed  to  occasion  no  com 
ment.  They  were  obviously  free  to  rove,  to 
stay,  to  live  their  lives  as  they  would  with 
out  interference  or  surveillance. 

Nevertheless,  they  still  maintained  the 
utmost  caution.  Sometimes,  idleness  being 
no  phenomenon,  they  would  lie  half  the 
day  in  the  shade  on  the  river-bank.  The 
Tennessee  was  shrunken  now  in  the  heated 
season,  and  great  gravelly  slopes  were  ex- 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  251 

posed.  The  two  loiterers  were  apparently 
motionless  at  first,  but  as  their  confidence 
increased  and  the  chances  of  being  ob 
served  lessened,  L'Epine,  always  dreading 
discovery,  began  to  casually  pass  the  gravel 
and  sand  through  his  fingers  as  he  lay; 
sometimes  he  idly  trifled  with  the  blade  of 
a  hoe  in  a  shallow  pool  left  by  the  receding 
waters,  while  the  jolly  Irishman,  now  grave 
and  solicitous,  watched  him  breathlessly. 
Then  Lupine  would  shake  his  head,  and 
the  mercurial  O'Kimmon  groaned  his  deep 
despondency. 

Once  the  Frenchman's  head  was  not 
shaken.  A  flush  sprang  up  among  the 
pragmatic  lines  of  L'Epine's  face ;  his  dark 
eyes  glittered;  his  hand  shook;  for  as  he 
held  out  the  hoe,  on  its  blade  were  vaguely 
glimmering  particles  among  the  sand. 

Later  the  two  adventurers  cherished  a 
small  nugget  of  red,  red  gold ! 

This  find  chanced  below  a  bluff  in  a  sort 
of  grotto  of  rock,  which  the  water  filled 
when  the  river  was  high,  and  left  quite  dry 
and  exposed  as  it  receded  in  the  droughts 
of  summer. 

Whether   the    two    strangers    were    too 


252     THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

much  and  too  long  out  of  sight ;  whether 
attention  was  attracted  by  certain  perfo 
rated  dippers  or  pans  which  they  now 
brought  into  assiduous  use,  but  which  they 
sought  to  conceal;  whether  they  had  been 
all  the  time  furtively  watched,  with  a  sus 
picion  never  abated,  one  can  hardly  say. 
They  had  observed  every  precaution  of 
secrecy  that  the  most  zealous  heed  could 
suggest.  Only  one  worked  with  the  pan 
while  the  other  lay  motionless  and  idle, 
and  vigilantly  watched  and  listened  for  any 
stealthy  sign  of  approach.  They  fully  real 
ized  the  jealousy  of  the  Indians  concern 
ing  the  mineral  wealth  of  their  territory, 
lest  its  discovery  bring  hordes  of  the  crav 
ing  white  people  to  dispossess  them.  This 
prophetic  terror  was  later  fulfilled  in  the 
Ayrate  division  of  the  tribe,  but  to  the 
northward,  along  the  Tennessee  River,  they 
sedulously  guarded  this  knowledge.  Tra 
ditions  there  are  to  the  present  day  in  the 
Great  Smoky  Mountains  concerning  mines 
of  silver  and  lead,  and  of  localities  rich  in 
auriferous  gravel  which  are  approximately 
ascertained,  but  which  the  Cherokees  knew 
accurately  and  worked  as  far  as  they  listed ; 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  253 

— they  carried  their  secret  with  them  to  the 
grave  or  the  far  west. 

The  exploration  of  L'Epine  and  O'Kim- 
mon  of  necessity  was  conducted  chiefly  by 
day,  but  one  night  the  prospectors  could  not 
be  still,  the  moon  on  the  sand  was  so  bright ! 

The  time  which  they  had  fixed  for  a  silent, 
secret  departure  was  drawing  near.  Their 
bags  were  almost  filled,  but  they  lingered 
for  a  little  more,  and  covetously  a  little  more 
still.  And  this  night,  this  memorable  night, 
the  moon  on  the  sand  was  as  bright  as  day  ! 

The  light  slanted  across  the  Tennessee 
River  and  shimmered  in  the  ripples.  One 
could  see,  if  one  would,  the  stately  lines  of 
dark  summits  along  a  far  horizon.  A  mock 
ingbird  was  singing  from  out  the  boscage 
of  the  laurel  near  at  hand,  and  the  night 
wind  was  astir.  And  suddenly  the  two  gold- 
washers  in  the  depths  of  the  grotto  became 
conscious  that  they  were  not  alone. 

There,  sitting  like  stone  figures  one  on 
each  side  of  the  narrow  portal,  were  the  two 
cheera-taghe  of  the  town,  silent,  motionless, 
watching  with  eyes  how  long  alert,  listening 
with  ears  how  discerningly  attentive,  it  is  im 
possible  to  divine. 


254    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

The  gold-washers  sprang  to  their  feet, 
each  instinctively  grasping  for  his  weapon, 
but  alack,  neither  was  armed  !  The  pan  had 
come  to  seem  the  most  potent  of  accoutre 
ments,  with  which,  in  good  sooth,  one  might 
take  the  world  by  storm,  and  the  rifle  and 
knife  were  forgotten,  in  their  absorption. 
Doubtless  the  Cherokees  interpreted  aright 
the  gesture,  so  significant,  so  obvious  to  their 
methods  of  life.  Both  the  cheera-taghe  were 
armed  with  pistol  as  well  as  tomahawk  and 
scalping-knife. 

Perhaps  because  of  this  they  felt  secure, 
at  leisure,  acquiescently  allowing  the  event 
to  develop  as  it  needs  must,  —  or  perhaps 
realizing  the  significance  of  the  discovery  to 
the  young  strangers,  their  palpitant  eager 
ness  to  gauge  its  result,  their  dread  of  re 
prisal,  of  forced  renunciation  of  their  booty, 
the  Indians  permitted  themselves  a  relish  of 
the  torture  of  an  enemy  on  a  more  aesthetic 
scheme  than  their  wont. 

The  two  cheera-taghe,  the  shadow  of  their 
feather-crested  heads  in  the  moonlight  on 
the  sand  of  the  grotto  almost  as  distinct  as 
the  reality,  spoke  suddenly  to  each  other, 
and  the  discomfited  gold-seekers,  who  had 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  255 

learned  to  comprehend  to  a  certain  extent 
the  language,  perceived  with  dismay  the  sar 
casm  that  lengthened  their  suspense.  For 
it  was  thus  that  the  rulers  among  the  Chero- 
kees  rebuked  their  own  young  people,  not 
upbraiding  them  with  their  misdeeds,  but 
with  gentle  satire  complimenting  them  for 
that  in  which  they  had  notably  failed. 

"  A  reward  for  hospitality  we  find  in 
these  young  men,"  said  one,  whose  voice 
was  hoarse  and  croaking  and  guttural  and 
who  was  called  Kanoona  (the  Bull- frog). 

"  Strangers  to  us,  yet  they  requite  us,  for 
we  treated  them  as  our  own,"  said  Oo-koo- 
koo. 

"  They  treat  us  as  their  own  !  "  the  croak 
ing,  satiric,  half-smothered  laughter  of  this 
response  intimated  an  aside.  Then  Kanoona 
in  full  voice  went  on,  "  Open  and  frank  as 
the  day,  they  keep  no  secrets  from  us !  " 

"  They  are  honest !  They  rob  us  not  of 
the  yellow  stone  which  the  Carolina  people 
think,  so  precious!"  rejoined  Oo-koo-koo, 
while  O'Kimmon  and  L'Epine  looked  from 
one  to  the  other  as  the  cheera-taghe  sus 
tained  this  fugue  of  satiric  accusation. 

"  Not  they,"  croaked  the  responsive  voice, 


256     THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

"for  behold,  we  have  long  time  fed  and 
lodged  them  and  given  them  of  our  best. 
We  have  believed  them  and  trusted  them. 
We  have  befriended  them  and  loved  them." 

"  And  they  have  befriended  and  loved 
us !  "  said  Oo-koo-koo. 

Then  silence.  The  river  sang,  but  only  a 
murmurous  rune  ;  the  mute  moonlight  lay 
still  on  the  mountains ;  the  wind  had  sunk, 
and  the  motionless  leaves  glistened  as  the 
dew  fell ;  a  nighthawk  swept  past  the  portal 
of  the  grotto  with  the  noiseless  wing  of  its 
kind. 

"  Had  they  desired  to  explore  our  land 
they  would  have  asked  our  consent,"  the 
croaking  voice  of  Kanoona  resumed  the  an- 
tiphonal  reproach.  "  They  would  not  have 
brought  upon  us  the  hordes  of  British  colo 
nists,  who  would  fain  drive  us  from  our 
habitations  for  their  greed  of  the  yellow 
stone." 

"  Oh,  no  !  never  would  they  make  so  base 
a  recompense  !  —  to  bring  upon  us  the  de 
struction  of  our  men  and  women  and  chil 
dren,  the  wresting  from  us  of  our  land,  the 
casting  of  us  forth  from  our  homes,  —  be 
cause  the  poor,  unsuspecting  Indians  gave 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE    257 

them  food  and  shelter  and  a  haven  of  rest 
while  waiting  for  the  pettiaugres  that  are 
coming  up  from  New  Orleans." 

"  The  pettiaugres  from  New  Orleans!" 
Kanoona  repeated  with  a  burst  of  raucous 
laughter.  "Hala!  Hala!" 

But  Oo-koo-koo  preserved  his  gravity. 
"  They  would  not  lie  !  Surely  the  white  men 
would  not  lie  !  " 

Then  turning  to  O'Kimmon  he  asked 
point-blank,  "  Chee-a-koh-ga  f "  (Do  you 
lie?) 

The  direct  address  was  a  relief  to  O'Kim- 
mon.  He  had  often  wondered  to  see  the 
stanch  young  braves  reduced  almost  to  tears 
by  this  seemingly  gentle  discipline ;  he  felt 
its  poignancy  when  the  keen  blade  of  satire 
was  turned  against  himself. 

"  I  did  lie  ! "  he  admitted,  as  unreservedly 
as  if  he  were  at  confession.  "  But  Oo-koo- 
koo,  we  will  pay  for  what  we  've  got.  This 
is  all  of  ut !  An'  f  aix,  yez  have  thrated  us 
well,  —  an'  begorra,  we  would  have  axed  yer 
consint  if  we  had  dhramed  we  could  have 
got  ut !  "  he  concluded  ingenuously. 

The  two  Indians  gazed  at  him  with  a  sur 
prise  so  evident  that  a  chill  ran  through  his 
every  nerve. 


258    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

"  We  will  never  reveal  the  secret,  —  the 
place  of  the  gold/'  declared  L'Epine.  Then 
perceiving  in  his  turn  something  uncompre- 
hended  in  their  expression  he  reinforced  his 
promise  with  argument.  "  We  will  want  to 
come  back  —  alone  —  to  get  more  of  it  — 
all  for  ourselves.  We  will  not  be  willing  to 
share  our  discovery  with  others." 

The  cheera-taghe  still  silently  gazed  at  the 
two  young  men ;  then  turned  toward  each 
other  with  that  patent  astonishment  yet  on 
their  faces.  At  last  they  burst  forth  into 
sarcastic  laughter. 

L'Epine  and  O'Kimmon,  albeit  half 
bewildered,  exchanged  appalled  glances. 
There  was  no  need  of  speech.  Each  under 
stood  at  last. 

Return !  There  was  no  chance  of  depar 
ture.  They  were  to  pay  the  penalty  of  the 
dangerous  knowledge  they  had  acquired. 
Already  some  vague  report,  some  suspicion 
of  the  hidden  gold  of  the  locality  had  been 
bruited  abroad, —  thus  the  Indians  must  rea 
son, —  or  these  white  men  would  not  have 
come  so  far  to  seek  it.  Should  they  be  per 
mitted  to  depart,  their  sudden  wealth  would 
proclaim  its  source,  even  though  as  they  had 
promised  they  should  keep  silence. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE    259 

This  was  equally  true  should  they  even 
tually  escape.  Therefore  —  hideous  realiza 
tion  !  —  the  actual  possession  by  the  Indians 
of  their  own  country  depended  upon  the 
keeping  of  the  secret  inviolate.  Dead  men 
tell  no  tales ! 

O'Kimmon,  with  a  swelling  heart,  be 
thought  himself  of  his  status  as  a  British 
subject  and  the  possible  vengeance  of  the 
province.  It  would  come,  if  at  all,  too  late. 
For  the  Cherokees  believed  the  two  to  be 
without  the  pale  of  the  English  protection. 
One  had  repudiated  the  government,  de 
claring  himself  an  Irishman,  a  nationality 
then  unknown  to  the  Cherokees.  The  other 
was  French,  —  no  reprisal  for  his  sake  was 
possible  to  a  tribe  under  British  allegiance. 
Death  it  must  be  !  —  doubtless  with  all  the 
pomp  and  circumstance  of  the  torture,  for 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  Indians  they  had 
requited  hospitality  with  robbery.  Death 
was  inevitable,  —  unless  they  could  now  es 
cape.  Had  they  but  one  weapon  between 
them  they  might  yet  make  good  their  flight. 

An  Irishman  rarely  stops  to  count  the 
odds.  With  the  thought  O'Kimmon,  heavy, 
muscular,  yet  alert,  threw  himself  upon 


260     THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

Oo-koo-koo,  and  in  an  instant  he  had  almost 
wrenched  the  knife  from  the  Indian's  belt. 

The  other  Cherokee  cried  warningly, 
"Akee-rooka!  Akee-rooka!"  (I  will  shoot !) 
Then  drew  his  pistol  and  fired. 

The  next  moment,  perhaps  for  many  mo 
ments  thereafter,  none  of  them  knew  very 
definitely  what  had  happened.  There  was 
a  cloud  of  dust,  a  terrific  detonation,  a 
sudden  absolute  darkness,  as  in  some  revul 
sion  of  nature,  a  stifling  sensation.  They 
were  penned  within  the  grotto  by  a  great 
fragment  of  the  beetling  cliff.  Doubtless  it 
had  been  previously  fractured  by  the  action 
of  continuous  freezes,  and  the  concussion  of 
the  pistol  shot  in  the  restricted  space  of  the 
cave  below  had  brought  it  down. 

The  days  went  on.  The  men  were  missed 
after  a  time,  but  a  considerable  interval  had 
elapsed.  The  two  strangers  had  of  late  kept 
themselves  much  apart,  owing  to  their  ab 
sorption  and  their  covert  methods  of  seeking 
for  gold.  It  was  an  ill-ordered,  roaming, 
sylvan  life  they  led  at  best.  The  cheera- 
taghe,  although  "  beloved  men  "  and  priests 
of  their  strange  and  savage  religion,  were  but 
wild  Indians,  and  their  temporary  absence 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  261 

created  no  surprise.  In  fact,  until  sought 
with  anxiety  when  the  drought  had  become 
excessive  and  threatened  the  later  crops, 
and  the  services  of  the  cheera-taghe  were 
necessary  to  invoke  and  with  wild  barbaric 
ceremonials  bring  down  the  lightning  and 
thunder  to  clear  the  atmosphere  and  the  rain 
to  refresh  the  soil,  it  was  not  ascertained 
that  the  prophets  had  definitely  disappearedo 

Then  it  was  that  excitement  supervened, 
search,  anxiety,  grief,  fear.  There  began  to 
be  vague  rumors  of  untoward  sounds,  re 
membered  rather  than  noticed  at  the  time. 
Faint  explosions  had  been  heard  in  the 
night  as  if  under  the  ground,  and  again 
in  broad  daylight  as  if  in  the  air.  None 
could  imagine  that  the  doomed  men  had 
sought  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  town 
by  firing  off  their  pistols,  thus  utilizing 
their  scanty  ammunition.  The  strain  grew 
intense  ;  superstitious  fancies  supplemented 
the  real  mystery  ;  the  place  was  finally 
abandoned,  and  thus  Nilaque  Great  became 
a  "  waste  town." 

It  was  ten  years,  perhaps,  after  this 
blight  had  fallen  upon  it,  that  one  day  as 
the  pack-train  came  down  the  valley  of  the 


262     THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

Little  Tennessee,  on  its  autumnal  return 
trip  to  Charlestown,  the  snow  began  to  sift 
down.  An  unseasonable  storm  it  was,  for 
the  winter  had  hardly  set  in.  A  north  wind 
sprang  up ;  the  snow  was  soon  heavily 
driving ;  within  an  hour  the  woods,  still  in 
the  red  leafage  of  autumn,  were  covered 
with  snow  and  encased  in  ice.  Only  by  a 
strenuous  effort  would  the  train  be  able  to 
pass  the  old  "  waste  town  "  before  the  early 
dusk,  —  a  mile  or  two  at  most ;  but  it  was 
hoped  that  this  might  suffice  to  keep  the 
ghosts  out  of  the  bounds  of  visibility.  The 
roaring  bacchanalian  glees  with  which  the 
pack-men  set  the  melancholy  sheeted  woods 
aquiver  might  well  send  the  ghosts  out  of 
earshot,  presuming  them  endowed  with  vo 
lition. 

Suddenly  Cuddy  Barnett  discovered  that 
one  of  the  pack-horses  of  his  own  especial 
charge  was  missing,  —  a  good  bay  with  a 
load  of  fine  dressed  deerskins  to  take  to 
Charlestown,  then  the  great  mart  of  all  this 
far  region.  A  recollection  of  a  sharp  curve 
in  the  trading-path,  running  dangerously 
near  a  bluff  bank,  came  abruptly  into  his 
mind.  Drifts  had  lodged  in  its  jagged  crev- 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE    263 

ices,  and  it  might  well  have  chanced  that 
here  the  animal  had  lost  his  footing  and 
slipped  out  of  the  steadily  trotting  file  along 
the  river  bank  unnoticed  in  the  blinding 
snow. 

This  theory  seemed  eminently  plausible 
to  his  comrades,  but  when  they  learned  that 
he  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  disaster  had 
happened  at  the  old  "  waste  town,"  as  he 
had  there  first  missed  the  animal  in  the  file, 
not  one  would  go  back  with  him  to  search 
the  locality,  —  not  for  the  horse,  not  for 
the  peltry,  not  even  to  avert  the  displeasure 
of  their  employer  in  Charles  town.  Barnett 
besought  their  aid  for  a  time,  urging  the 
project  of  rescue  as  they  all  sat  around 
the  roaring  camp-fire  under  the  sheltering 
branches  of  a  cluster  of  fir  trees  that,  acting 
as  wind-break,  served  to  fend  off  in  some 
degree  the  fury  of  the  storm.  The  ruddy 
flare  illumined  far  shadowy  aisles  of  the 
snowy  wilderness,  all  agloom  with  the  early 
dusk.  Despite  the  falling  flakes,  they  could 
still  see  the  picketed  pack-horses,  now  freed 
from  their  burdens,  huddling  together  and 
holding  down  their  heads  to  the  icy  blast  as 
they  munched  their  forage.  The  supper  of 


264  THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

the  young1  pack-men  was  broiling  on  the 
coals  ;  their  faces  were  florid  with  the  keen 
wind,  their  coonskin  caps  all  crested  with 
snow ;  and  the  fringes  of  their  buckskin 
raiment  had  tinkling  pendants  of  icicles ; 
but  although  they  had  found  good  cheer  in 
a  chortling  jug,  uncorked  as  the  first  pre 
liminary  of  encamping,  they  had  not  yet 
imbibed  sufficient  fictitious  courage  to  set 
at  naught  their  fears  of  the  old  "waste 
town." 

Barnett  at  last  acquiesced  in  the  relin- 
quishment  of  his  desire  of  rescue.  Some 
losses  must  needs  occur  in  a  great  trade, 
and  considering  the  stress  of  the  weather, 
the  long  distances  traversed,  the  dangers 
of  the  lonely  wildernesses  in  the  territory 
of  savages,  the  incident  would  doubtless 
be  leniently  overlooked.  And  then  he  be 
thought  himself  of  the  horse,  —  a  good 
horse,  stout,  swift,  kindly  disposed ;  a  hard 
fate  the  animal  had  encountered,  —  aban 
doned  here  to  starve  in  these  bleak  winter 
woods.  Perhaps  he  might  be  lying  there  at 
the  foot  of  the  cliffs  with  a  broken  leg,  suf 
fering  the  immeasurable  agonies  of  a  dumb 
beast,  for  the  lack  of  a  merciful  pistol-ball 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  265 

to  put  him  at  peace.  Barnett  could  not  re 
sist  the  mute  appeal  of  his  fancy. 

Presently  he  was  trudging  alone  along 
the  icy  path.  The  flare  of  the  red  fire  grew 
dim  behind  him ;  the  last  flicker  faded. 
The  woods  were  all  unillumined,  ghastly 
white,  with  a  hovering  gray  shadow.  The 
song  of  the  bivouac  fainted  in  the  distance 
and  failed ;  the  echo  grew  doubtful  and 
dull;  and  now  in  absolute  silence  that 
somehow  set  his  nerves  aquiver  he  was  com 
ing  in  with  the  dreary  dusk  and  the  driving 
snow  to  the  old  "  waste  town/'  Nilaque 
Great. 

More  silent  even  than  the  wilderness  it 
seemed  with  the  muffling  drifts  heavy  on 
the  roofs,  blocking  the  dark  open  doors  of 
the  tenantless  dwellings,  lying  in  fluffy 
masses  on  the  boughs  of*  the  trees  that  had 
once  made  the  desert  spaces  so  pleasantly 
umbrageous  in  those  sweet  summers  so  long 
ago.  The  great  circular  council  -  house, 
shaped  like  a  dome,  was  whitely  aglimmer 
against  the  gray  twilight  and  the  wintry 
background  of  the  woods  and  mountains, 
—  only  the  vaguest  suggestions  of  heights 
seen  through  the  ceaseless  whirl  of  the 


266    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

crystalline  flakes.  No  wolf  now,  although 
remembering  the  casual  glimpse  he  had  had 
he  was  prepared  with  rifle  and  pistol,  and 
held  his  knife  in  his  hand  ;  no  bear ;  no  sign 
of  living  creature  until,  as  he  skirted  the 
jagged  bluff  of  the  river  where  he  fancied 
the  horse  might  have  lost  his  footing,  he 
heard  a  sudden  whinny  of  welcome,  the 
sound  keen  and  eerie  and  intrusive  in  the 
strange  breathless  solemnity  of  the  silent 
place. 

Gazing  cautiously  over  the  verge  of  the 
precipice,  he  saw  the  animal  despite  the  gath 
ering  shadows.  The  horse  was  quite  safe, 
having  doubtless  slipped  down  in  the  soft 
densities  of  a  great  drift  dislodged  from  the 
crevice  by  his  own  weight.  His  pack  was 
still  on  his  back,  now  piled  twice  as  high 
with  snow.  He  lifted  his  arched  neck  as 
he  sprang  about  with  undiminished  activity, 
vainly  seeking  to  ascend  the  almost  sheer 
precipice. 

Daylight,  however,  was  essential  for  his 
rescue.  The  effort  now  on  these  icy  steeps 
might  cost  either  man  or  beast  a  broken 
limb,  if  no  more.  With  an  instinct  of  self- 
protection  the  animal  had  chosen  the  lee  of 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE    267 

a  great  buttress  of  the  cliff,  and  could  stand 
there  safely  all  night  though  the  tempera 
ture  should  fall  still  lower.  The  young  pack 
man  called  out  a  word  or  two  of  encourage 
ment,  listening  fearfully  as  the  sound  struck 
back  in  the  silence  from  the  icy  bank  of 
the  river,  the  craggy  hillsides,  and  the  reso 
nant  walls  of  the  deserted  houses  in  the  old 
"  waste  town."  Himself  suddenly  stricken 
to  silence,  he  realized  as  he  turned  that  the 
night  had  at  last  closed  in.  It  lay  dark  and 
desolate  in  the  limitless  woods',  where  a  vague 
sense  of  motion  gave  token  that  the  snow 
was  stih1  viewlessly  falling  in  the  dense  ob 
scurities. 

But  in  the  "waste  town"  itself  a  pallid 
visibility  lingered  in  the  open  spaces  where 
the  trees  were  few,  and  gloomily  showed  the 
empty  cabins,  the  deserted  council-house, 
the  vacant  "beloved  square."  Somehow, 
turn  as  he  would,  this  dim  scene  in  the 
midst  of  the  dense  darkness  of  the  stormy 
night  was  before  his  eyes.  Again  and  again 
he  plunged  into  the  woods  seeking  to  fol 
low  the  well-known  trail  of  the  trading-path 
to  the  camp  and  rejoin  his  companions,  but 
invariably  he  would  emerge  from  the  wilder- 


268     THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

ness  after  a  toilsome  tramp,  entering  the  old 
"waste  town"  at  a  different  angle. 

He  perceived  at  length  that  he  could  not 
keep  the  direction,  that  he  was  wandering 
in  a  circle  after  the  manner  of  those  lost 
in  forests.  His  clothing,  freezing  upon  his 
body,  was  calculated  for  warmer  weather  ; 
the  buckskin  shirt  and  leggings,  the  garb 
of  the  frontiersmen,  copied  from  the  at 
tire  of  the  Indians,  were  of  a  thin  and  pli 
able  texture,  owing  to  the  peculiar  skill  of 
the  savages  in  dressing  peltry.  An  early 
historian  describes  such  costume  in  a  curi 
ously  sophisticated  phrase  as  the  "  summer 
visiting  dress  of  the  Indians."  The  south 
ern  tribes  were  intensely  averse  to  cold, 
for  in  winter  they  wore  furs  and  garments 
made  of  buffalo  hides,  the  shaggy  side  in 
ward  ;  this  raiment  was  sewed  with  the 
sinews  of  deer  and  a  kind  of  wild  hemp  for 
thread,  and  with  needles  dexterously  fash 
ioned  of  fishbone. 

Barnett  had  now  no  thought  of  the  ghosts 
of  the  old  "  waste  town."  His  first  care  was 
to  save  his  life  this  cruel  night ;  without 
fire,  without  food,  without  shelter,  it  might 
be  that  he  had  indeed  come  to  the  end. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  269 

He  was  induced  by  this  reflection  to  climb 
the  mound  to  the  old  council-house.  For 
here  the  walls,  plastered  both  within  and 
without  with  the  strong  adhesive  red  clay 
of  the  region,  admitted  no  wind,  while  in 
the  cabins  which  had  been  dwellings  the 
drifts  lay  deep  beneath  the  rifts  in  the  di 
lapidated  roofs  and  the  crevices  in  the 
wall,  and  the  flying  flakes  sifted  in  as  the 
keen  gusts  surged  through.  He  had  had 
the  forethought  to  gather  as  he  went  bits 
of  wood,  now  a  loose  clapboard  or  piece  of 
bark  from  low-hanging  eaves,  now  a  frag 
ment  of  half-rotten  puncheon  from  a  door 
step,  and  as  he  groped  into  the  dense 
darkness  of  the  council-house  with  his  steel 
and  flint  he  set  them  alight  on  the  hearth 
in  the  centre  of  the  floor. 

When  he  was  once  more  warm  and  free 
of  the  fear  of  death,  other  fears  took  hold 
upon  him.  In  the  first  glimmers  of  the  fire 
he  could  see  through  the  tall  narrow  door- 
less  portal  only  the  dark  night  outside  and 
a  flickering  glimpse  against  its  blackness  of 
the  quivering  crystals  of  the  snow,  —  these 
but  vaguely,  for  the  blue  smoke  eddying 
through  the  great  room  veiled  the  opposite 


270    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

side,  there  being  no  chimney  or  window, 
and  he  sat  in  the  interior  behind  the  fire. 

He  gazed  furtively  over  his  shoulder  ever 
and  anon,  as  the  flames  flared  up,  revealing 
the  deeply  red  walls  of  the  dome-like  place 
with  here  and  there  a  buffalo  skin  sus 
pended  against  them,  the  inside  of  the  hide 
showing,  painted  in  curious  hieroglyphics, 
brilliant  with  color,  and  instinct  with  an 
untranslated  meaning;  a  number  of  conch 
shells  lay  about,  with  jars  and  vases  of 
clay,  and  those  quaintly  fashioned  earthen 
drums,  the  heads  of  tightly  stretched  deer 
skin, —  all  paraphernalia  of  the  savage  wor 
ship  which  the  cheera-taghe  had  conducted, 
now  abandoned  as  bewitched. 

Sitting  here  comfortably  in  the  place  of 
those  men  of  the  "  divine  fire,"  Cuthbert 
Barnett,  his  rifle  by  his  side,  his  knife  in 
his  belt,  his  coon  skin  cap  pushed  back  from 
his  face,  once  more  florid,  warm,  tingling 
from  the  keen  wind  of  the  day  and  the 
change  to  this  heated  air,  and  with  per 
chance  a  drowsy  eyelid,  began  to  marvel 
anew  as  to  the  fate  of  the  cheera-taghe. 
Hardly  a  drowsy  eyelid,  he  consciously  had, 
however,  for  he  had  resolved  that  he  would 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  271 

not  sleep.  His  situation  here  alone  was  too 
dangerous  ;  he  feared  wolves,  —  the  fire  that 
would  otherwise  affright  them  might  un- 
tended  sink  too  low.  He  feared  also  some 
wandering  Indian.  Should  he  be  discovered 
here  by  means  of  the  unaccustomed  light  he 
might  be  wantonly  murdered  as  he  slept,  or 
in  revenge  for  the  sacrilege  of  his  intrusion 

o  o 

among  these  things  that  the  savages  had 
esteemed  sacred. 

Therefore,  when  he  suddenly  saw  the 
cheera-taghe  he  saw  them  quite  plainly. 
Tall,  stately,  splendidly  arrayed  in  their 
barbaric  garb,  draped  with  their  iridescent 
feather-wrought  mantles,  their  heads  dressed 
with  white  plumes,  a  staff  of  cane  adorned 
with  white  feathers  in  the  right  hand,  a 
green  bough  in  the  left,  preceded  by  those 
curiously  sonorous  earthen  drums,  of  which 
the  drone  blended  with  the  notes  of  the 
religious  song,  Yo-he-wah-yah  !  Yo-he-wah- 
yah  !  they  thrice  led  the  glittering  proces 
sion  of  the  "  holy  dance  "  around  and  around 
the  "  beloved  square." 

A  blank  interval  ensued.  And  then  again 
he  saw  them,  nearer  now,  more  distinct ; 
they  were  entering  the  temple;  they  were 


272    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

close  at  hand ;  triumphant  of  mien,  assured, 
so  full  of  life ! — he  could  laugh  to  think  that 
he  had  had  a  dream,  or  had  heard  somehow, 
that  they  were  dead  or  lost  or  vaguely  gone. 
For  here,  without  seeming  in  the  least  to 
notice  his  presence,  they  kindled  anew  with 
friction  of  bits  of  poplar  or  white  oak  the 
fire  for  the  new  year,  the  cheera,  the  "  sacred 
flame,"  to  bear  it  outside  to  distribute  it 
to  the  assembled  people  of  Nilaque  Great. 
Without  was  summer ;  the  trees  were  full 
of  green  leaves ;  canoes  were  glancing  along 
the  shimmering  river ;  the  "  beloved  square  " 
was  crowded  with  braves,  —  he  saw  their 
feathered  crests  wave  and  glisten  ;  the  wind 
was  blowing  fresh  and  cool ;  the  sun  shone. 
And  suddenly  it  was  shining  in  his  face, 
as  it  came  up  over  the  Great  Smoky  Moun 
tains,  sending  its  first  long  slanting  wintry 
beams  through  the  narrow  portal  to  the 
hearth  where  he  had  lain  asleep  before  the 
ashes  of  the  once  "  sacred  fire,"  covered  with 
the  fresh  ashes  of  last  night's  vigil,  for  they 
too  were  dead.  He  staggered  to  his  feet 
and  went  out  into  the  glistening  dawn  of 
this  snowy  sunlit  day,  hardly  able  to  recon 
cile  its  aspect  with  the  summer-tide  scene 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE    273 

he  had  just  quitted.  Now  and  again  he 
paused,  half-bewildered,  as  if  unfamiliar 
with  the  pathetic  miseries  of  the  old  "  waste 
town  "  —  the  scene  in  his  mind  savored  far 
more  of  reality. 

The  necessity  of  caring  for  the  pack- 
horse,  perhaps  better  than  aught  else,  served 
to  restore  his  faculties.  He  found  it  easy 
now  to  climb  down  the  jagged  face  of  the 
bluffs  of  the  river  bank,  whence  the  snow 
had  vanished,  for  in  the  changeable  south 
ern  climate  a  sudden  thaw  had  begun  in 
the  earlier  hours  and  now  the  warm  sun  was 
setting  all  the  trees  and  eaves  adrip.  As 
he  stood  below  the  cliff  on  the  sandy  slope 
whence  the  snow  had  slipped  down  into  the 
river,  the  volume  of  which  the  storm  of  last 
night  would  much  increase  after  the  long 
drought  of  the  summer,  he  carefully  exam 
ined  the  horse  to  ascertain  what  injuries  he 
might  have  sustained  ;  a  few  abrasions  on 
the  right  flank  seemed  to  be  all,  until  the 
animal  moved,  a  bit  stiffly  with  the  near 
fore  leg.  This  attracted  Barnett's  attention 
to  a  gash  on  the  knee  received  doubtless 
when  the  horse  first  fell  on  the  ground,  — 
a  queer  gash,  long,  jagged,  unaccountable, 


274    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

as  if  it  had  been  made  by  a  dull  blade. 
Glancing  down  to  search  the  gravel,  the 
pack-man  discerned,  half-imbedded  in  the 
sand,  the  edge  of  a  fragment  of  a  knife, 
a  scalping-knif e,  broken  half  in  two ;  and 
there,  lying  not  three  yards  away,  was  a 
handle  attached  to  a  belt  heavily  wrought 
with  roanoke,  —  only  a  bit  of  the  belt,  — 
and  the  other  half  of  the  knife. 

The  pack-man's  hand  trembled  and  his 
florid  cheek  went  pale,  for  these  lay  just 
under  the  sharp  edge  of  a  huge  fragment 
of  rock  that  had  evidently  fallen  from  the 
cliff  above,  breaking  the  blade  and  holding 
the  belt  fast. 

How  long  he  stood  and  stared  he  did  not 
know.  For  a  time  he  heard  without  realiz 
ing  the  significance  of  the  sounds  the  whoops 
and  shouts  of  his  comrades,  wildly  racing 
back  through  the  old  "  waste  town "  in 
search  of  him ;  but  although  in  the  strenu 
ous  duty  of  his  rescue  they  would  venture  to 
pass  it  in  broad  daylight,  no  ardor  of  per 
suasion  could  induce  them  to  linger  there  to 
investigate  the  locality  of  his  find,  or  to  aid 
in  moving  the  rock  and  exploring  the  grotto 
that  had  evidently  proved  a  sepulchre. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE  275 

On  the  contrary,  they  deemed  the  discov 
ery  might  be  resented  by  the  Indians  as  in 
trusive,  and,  keeping  the  secret,  they  made 
haste  to  get  out  of  the  country  with  even 
more  speed  than  their  wont.  Cuthbert  Bar- 
nett,  however,  carried  his  information  to  the 
authorities  in  Charlestown,  who,  promptly 
acting  upon  it,  solved  the  mystery  of  the 
fate  of  the  cheera-taghe. 

Since  peace  with  the  Cherokees  was  be 
coming  more  and  more  precarious,  some 
satisfaction  was  experienced  by  the  Royal 
Governor  of  South  Carolina,  James  Glen, 
at  that  time,  in  being  able  to  urge  upon  the 
attention  of  the  head-men  of  the  tribe  the 
fact  that,  although  the  two  white  strangers 
had  obviously  been  captured  in  the  act  of 
robbing  Cherokee  soil  of  its  gold,  they  had 
as  evidently  been  unarmed,  and  the  Irish 
man,  a  British  subject,  had  been  shot  down 
by  one  of  the  cheera-taghe,  for  there  was  the 
bullet  still  imbedded  firmly  in  the  sternum 
of  his  broad  chest.  Thus  a  political  crisis, 
which  the  event  had  threatened,  was  averted. 

Despite  the  evil  chance  that  had  befallen 
the  gold-seekers,  now  widely  bruited  abroad, 
stealthy  efforts  were  ever  and  anon  made 


276    THE  FATE  OF  THE  CHEERA-TAGHE 

by  the  hardy  frontier  prospectors  of  those 
days,  already  busy  in  the  richer  deposits  of 
the  Ay  rate  division  of  the  Cherokee  coun 
try,  to  pan  also  the  sands  of  the  banks  of  the 
Tennessee;  but  the  yield  here  was  never 
again  worth  the  work,  and  the  interest  in 
the  possibility  of  securing  "  pay  gravel "  in 
this  region  died  out,  until  the  later  excite 
ments  of  the  discovery  of  the  precious  metal 
in  a  neighboring  locality,  Coca  Creek,  dur 
ing  the  last  century. 

The  old  "  waste  town  "  long  remained  a 
ruin,  and  at  last  fell  away  to  a  mere  mem 
ory. 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 


THE  BEWITCHED   BALL- 
STICKS 

AT  no  time  in  the  history  of  mankind,  ex 
cept  during  that  brief  Paradisiac  courtship 
in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  has  the  heart  of  a 
lover  been  altogether  unvexed  by  the  pre 
sence,  or  even  the  sheer  suspicion,  of  that 
baleful  being  commonly  denominated  "  an 
other."  Here,  however,  it  would  seem  that 
the  field  must  needs  be  almost  as  clear.  The 
aspect  of  the  world  was  as  if  yet  young ; 
the  swan,  long  ago  driven  from  the  rivers, 
still  snowily  drifted  down  the  silver  Ten 
nessee  ;  the  deer,  the  bear,  the  buffalo,  the 
wolf  in  countless  hordes  roamed  at  will 
throughout  the  dense  primeval  wildernesses ; 
the  line  of  Cherokee  towns  along  the  banks 
represented  almost  the  only  human  habita 
tions  for  many  hundred  miles,  but  to  Tus- 
ka-sah  the  country  seemed  to  groan  under 
a  surplus  of  population,  for  there  yet  dwelt 
right  merrily  at  loco  Town  the  youthful 
Amoyah,  the  gayest  of  all  gay  birds,  and  a 


280    THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

painful  sense  of  the  superfluous  pressed  upon 
the  brain  at  the  very  sight  of  him. 

This  trait  of  frivolity  was  to  Tus-ka-sah 
the  more  revolting,  since  he  himself  was  of 
a  serious  cast  of  mind  and  possessed  of  fac 
ulties,  rare  in  an  Indian,  which  are  called 
"  fine  business  capacity."  He  was  esteemed 
at  an  English  trading-house  down  on  the 
Eupharsee  River  as  the  best  "  second  man  " 
in  any  of  the  towns  ;  this  phrase  "  second 
man  "  expressing  the  united  functions  of  al 
derman,  chief  of  police,  chairman  of  boards 
of  public  improvements,  and  the  various 
executive  committees  of  civilization.  His 
were  municipal  duties,  —  the  apportionment 
of  community  labor,  the  supervision  of  the 
building  of  houses  and  the  planting  of  crops, 
the  distribution  of  public  bounty,  the  trans 
action  of  any  business  of  loco  Town  with  vis 
itors  whom  individual  interest  might  bring 
thither.  So  well  did  he  acquit  himself  when 
these  errands  involved  questions  of  com 
mercial  policy  that  the  English  traders  were 
wont  to  declare  that  Tus-ka-sah,  the  Terra 
pin,  had  "  horse  sense  "  —  which  certainly 
was  remarkable  in  a  terrapin  ! 

His  clear-headed  qualities,  however,  val- 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS      281 

ued  commercially,  seemed  hardly  calculated 
to  adorn  the  fireside.  In  sensible  cumbrous 
silence  and  disastrous  eclipse  he  could  only 
contemplate  with  dismayed  aversion  the  pal 
pable  effect  of  Amoyah's  gay  sallies  of  wit, 
his  fantastic  lies,  his  vainglorious  boastings, 
and  his  wonderful  stories,  which  seemed 
always  to  enchant  his  audience,  the  house 
hold  of  the  damsel  to  whom  in  civilized  par 
lance  they  were  both  paying  their  addresses. 
These  audiences  were  usually  large,  and  far 
too  lenient  in  the  estimation  of  Tus-ka-sah. 
First  there  was  present,  of  course,  Amoyah 
himself,  seeming  a  whole  flock  instead  of 
one  Pigeon.  Then  must  be  counted  Alt- 
sasti,  who  although  a  widow  was  very  young, 
and  as  slight,  as  lissome,  as  graceful  as  the 
"wreath"  which  her  name  signified.  She 
was  clad  now  in  her  winter  dress  of  otter 
skins,  all  deftly  sewn  together  so  that  the 
fur  might  lie  one  way,  the  better  to  enable 
the  fabric  to  shed  the  rain  ;  the  petticoat 
was  longer  than  the  summer  attire  of  doe 
skin,  for  although  the  tinkle  of  the  metal 
"  bell  buttons  "  of  her  many  garters  might 
be  heard  as  she  moved,  only  the  anklets  were 
visible  above  her  richly  beaded  moccasins. 


282     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

She  seldom  moved,  however ;  sitting  beside 
the  fire  on  a  buffalo  rug,  she  monotonously 
strung  rainbow-hued  beads  for  hours  at  a 
time.  Her  glossy,  straight  black  hair  was 
threaded  with  a  strand  of  opaque  white 
beads  passing  through  the  coils,  dressed 
high,  and  copiously  anointed  with  bear's 
oil,  and  on  her  forehead  she  wore  a  single 
pendant  wrought  of  the  conch-shell,  ivory- 
white  and  highly  polished.  She  maintained 
a  busy  silence,  but  the  others  of  the  group 
—  her  father,  sometimes  her  mother  and 
grandmother  and  the  younger  sisters  and 
brothers  —  preserved  no  such  semblance 
of  gravity,  and  indulged  in  appreciative 
chuckles  responsive  to  Amoyah's  jests,  idly 
watching  him  with  twinkling  eyes  as  long 
as  he  would  talk. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  say  how  long 
this  might  be,  for  there  were  no  windows 
to  the  winter  houses  of  the  Cherokees ; 
in  point  of  architecture  these  structures 
resembled  the  great  dome-shaped  council- 
house,  plastered  within  and  without  with 
red  clay  ;  the  floor  was  some  three  feet 
lower  than  the  surface  of  the  ground  out 
side,  and  the  exit  fashioned  with  a  narrow 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     283 

winding  passage  before  reaching  the  outlet 
of  the  door.  The  sun  might  rise  or  set ;  the 
night  might  come  or  go ;  no  token  how 
the  hour  waxed  or  waned  could  penetrate 
this  seclusion.  The  replenishing  of  the  fire 
on  the  chimneyless  hearth  in  the  centre  of 
the  floor  afforded  the  only  comment  on  the 
passage  of  time.  Its  glow  gave  to  view  the 
red  walls ;  the  curious  designs  of  the  painted 
interior  of  the  buffalo  hides  stretched  upon 
them,  by  way  of  decoration  ;  the  cane  di 
vans  or  couches  that  were  contrived  to  run 
all  around  the  circular  apartment,  and  on 
which  were  spread  skins  of  bear  and  pan 
ther  and  wolves,  covering  even  the  heads  of 
the  slumbering  members  of  the  household, 
for  the  Cherokees  slept  away  much  of  the 
tedious  winter  weather. 

The  fire  would  show,  too,  how  gayly 
bedight  and  feather-crested  was  Amoyah, 
wearing  a  choice  garb  of  furs ;  —  often,  so 
great  was  his  vanity,  his  face  was  elaborately 
painted  as  if  for  some  splendid  festive  oc 
casion,  a  dance  or  the  ball-play,  instead  of 
merely  to  impress  with  his  magnificence  this 
simple  domestic  circle.  Tus-ka-sah  dated  the 
events  that  followed  from  one  night  when 


284     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

this  facial  decoration  of  his  rival  was  even 
more  fantastic  than  usual.  Like  a  fish  was 
one  side  of  the  young  Cherokee's  profile ; 
the  other  in  glaring  daubs  of  white  and 
black  and  red  craftily  represented  the  head 
of  a  woodpecker.  The  effect  in  front  was 
the  face  of  a  nondescript  monster,  that  only 
a  gleeful  laughing  eye,  and  now  and  then  a 
flash  of  narrow  white  teeth,  identified  as 
the  jovial  Amoyah,  the  Pigeon  of  loco. 

The  snow  lay  on  the  ground  without,  he 
said  as  he  shook  a  wreath  of  it  from  a  fold  of 
his  fur  and  it  fell  hissing  among  the  coals. 
The  shadows  were  long,  he  told  them,  for 
the  moon  was  up  and  the  world  was  'dimly 
white  and  duskily  blue.  The  wind  was 
abroad,  and  indeed  they  could  hear  the  swirl 
of  its  invisible  wings  as  it  swooped  past ; 
the  boughs  of  the  trees  clashed  together 
and  ice  was  in  the  Tennessee  River.  The 
winter  had  come,  he  declared. 

Not  yet,  Tus-ka-sah  pragmatically  averred. 
There  would  be  fine  weather  yet. 

For  the  snowfall  so  early  in  the  season 
was  phenomenal  and  the  red  leaves  were  still 
clinging  to  the  trees. 

Had   they   been    together    among   men 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     285 

Amoyah  would  not  have  cared  enough  for 
the  subject  to  justify  contention,  but  in  the 
presence  of  women  he  would  suffer  no  con 
tradiction.  He  must  needs  be  paramount,  — 
the  infinitely  admired !  He  shook  his  head. 

The  winter  had  surely  come,  he  insisted. 
Why,  he  argued,  the  bears  knew,  —  they 
always  knew  !  And  already  each  had  walked 
the  round  with  his  shadow. 

For  in  the  approach  of  winter,  in  the  light 
of  the  first  mystic,  icicled  moon,  the  night 
when  it  reaches  its  full,  a  grotesque  pageant 
is  afoot  in  that  remote  town  of  the  bears, 
immemorially  fabled  to  be  hidden  in  the 
dense  coverts  of  the  Great  Smoky  Moun 
tains,  —  the  procession  of  the  bears,  each 
walking  with  his  shadow,  seven  times  around 
the  illuminated  spaces  of  the  "  beloved 
square." 

The  bears  knew  undoubtedly,  the  "  sec 
ond  man,"  the  man  of  facts  and  method  and 
management,  soberly  admitted.  But  how  did 
Amoyah  know  that  already  they  had  trod 
den  those  significant  circles,  each  with  his 
shadow  ?  He  smiled  triumphant  in  his  in 
controvertible  logic. 

And  now  Amoyah's  face  was  wonderful 


286     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

to  view,  whether  as  a  fish  on  one  side  or  a 
woodpecker  on  the  other,  with  that  most 
human  expression  of  surprise  and  indigna 
tion  and  aversion  as  distinctly  limned  upon 
it  as  if  in  pigments,  for  he  loved  the  "  sec 
ond  man's  "  facts  no  more  than  the  "  second 
man  "  loved  his  fancies.  How  did  he  know, 
forsooth  ?  Because,  Amoyah  hardily  de 
clared,  he  himself  had  witnessed  the  march, 
—  he  had  been  permitted  to  behold  that 
weird  and  grotesque  progress ! 

He  took  note  of  the  blank  silence  that  en 
sued  upon  this  startling  asseveration.  Then 
emboldened  to  add  circumstance  to  sheer 
statement  he  protested,  "  I  attended  the 
ceremony  by  invitation.  I  had  a  place  in 
the  line  of  march  —  I  walked  beside  the 
Great  Bear  as  his  shadow  !  " 

For,  according  to  tradition,  each  bear, 
burly,  upright  in  the  moonlight,  follows 
the  others  in  Indian  file,  but  at  the  side  of 
each  walks  his  shadow,  and  that  shadow  is 
not  the  semblance  of  a  bear,  but  of  a  Chero 
kee  Indian  ! 

Now,  as  everybody  has  heard,  the  bears 
were  once  a  band  of  Cherokee  Indians,  but 
wearying  of  the  rigors  and  artificialities  of 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     287 

tribal  civilization  they  took  to  the  woods, 
became  bears,  and  have  since  dwelt  in  se 
clusion. 

The  thoughts,  however,  persistently  reach 
out  for  the  significance  of  the  fact  that  in 
the  tradition  of  this  immemorial  progress 
each  creature  is  accompanied  by  the  shadow, 
not  of  the  thing  that  he  is,  but  of  the  higher 
entity  that  he  was  designed  to  be. 

Whether  this  inference  is  merely  the  me 
chanical  deduction  of  a  lesson,  or  a  subtlety 
of  moralizing,  with  a  definite  intention,  on 
the  part  of  the  Cherokees,  always  past-mas 
ters  in  the  intricacies  of  symbolism,  it  is 
difficult  to  determine,  but  the  bears  are  cer 
tainly  not  alone  in  this  illustration  of  retro 
gression,  and  memory  may  furnish  many  an 
image  of  a  lost  ideal  to  haunt  the  paths  of 
beings  of  a  higher  plane. 

The  picture  was  before  the  eyes  of  all  the 
fireside  group,  —  the  looming  domes  of  the 
Great  Smoky  Mountains,  where  the  clouds, 
white  and  opaline,  hung  in  the  intervals  be 
neath  the  ultimate  heights ;  the  silences  of 
the  night  were  felt  in  the  dense  dark  lonely 
forest  that  encompassed  the  open  spaces 
of  that  mysterious  city,  with  the  conical 


288     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

thatched  roofs  of  its  winter  houses  and  the 
sandy  stretch  of  the  "  beloved  square ;  "  — 
and  there  was  the  line  of  bears,  clumsy, 
heavy-footed,  lumbering,  ungainly,  and  be 
side  each  the  feather-crested  similitude  of 
what  he  had  been,  alert,  powerful,  gifted 
with  human  ingenuity,  the  craft  of  weapons, 
mental  endowment,  and  an  immortal  soul, 
—  so  they  went  in  the  wintry  moonlight ! 

There  was  naught  in  this  detail  of  the 
annual  procession  of  the  bears,  always  tak 
ing  place  before  the  period  of  their  hiber 
nation,  that  surprised  or  angered  Tus-ka- 
sah  ;  but  that  they  should  break  from  their 
ancient  law,  their  established  habit  of  ex- 
clusiveness,  single  out  Amoyah  (of  all  the 
people  in  the  world),  summon  him  to  attend 
their  tribal  celebration,  and  participate  in 
their  parade,  as  the  shadow  of  Eeon-a,  the 
Great  Bear,  —  this  passed  the  bounds  of 
the  possibilities.  This  fantasy  had  not  the 
shreds  of  verisimilitude ! 

Yet  even  while  he  argued  within  him 
self  Tus-ka-sah  noted  the  old  warrior's  gaze 
fix  spellbound  upon  Amoyah,  the  hands  of 
Altsasti  petrify,  the  bead  in  one,  the  mo 
tionless  thread  in  the  other.  The  eyes  of 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     289 

the  more  remote  of  the  group,  who  were 
seated  on  rugs  around  the  fire,  glistened 
wide  and  startled,  in  the  shadow,  as  Amoyah 
proceeded  to  relate  how  it  had  chanced. 

A  frosty  morning  he  said  it  was,  and  he 
was  out  in  the  mountain  a-hunting.  He  re 
peated  the  song  which  he  had  been  singing, 
and  the  wind  as  it  swirled  about  the  house 
must  have  caught  his  voice  and  carried  it 
far.  It  was  a  song  chronicling  the  deeds  of 
the  Great  Bear,  and  had  a  meaningless  re 
frain,  "  Eeon-a,  Ha-hoo-jah  !  Eeon-a,  Ha- 
hoo-jah!"  But  when  he  reached  the  advent 
upon  the  scene  of  the  secondary  hero,  the 
Great  Bear  himself,  very  polite,  speaking 
excellent  Cherokee  ("  since  we  are  alone," 
he  said),  very  recognizant  of  the  merits  of 
Amoyah, —  the  fame  of  which  indeed  was 
represented  to  have  resounded  through  the 
remotest  seclusions  of  the  ursine  realm,  — 
fiction  though  it  all  obviously  was,  the  man 
of  facts  could  no  longer  endure  this  magni 
fication  of  his  rival. 

"  The  great  Eeon-a  said  all  that  to  you  ?  " 
he  sneered.  "  The  fire-water  at  the  trading- 
house  makes  your  heart  very  strong  and 
your  tongue  crooked.  This  sounds  to  me  like 


290     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

the  language  of  a  simple  seequa,  not  the 
Great  Bear  —  a  mere  bit  of  an  opossum!  " 

Amoyah  paused  with  a  sudden  gasp;  He 
was  not  without  an  aggressive  temper,  albeit, 
persuaded  of  his  own  perfection,  he  feared 
no  rival,  and  least  of  all  Tus-ka-sah. 

"  You,  Tus-ka-sah,"  he  retorted  angrily, 
"  have  evidently  strongly  shaken  hands  with 
the  discourse  of  the  opossum,  speaking  its 
language  like  the  animal  itself,  and  also 
the  wolfish  English.  You  have  too  many 
tongues,  and,  more  than  all,  the  deceitful, 
forked  tongue  of  the  snake,  which  is  not 
agreeable  to  the  old  beloved  speech.  For 
myself,  the  Great  Bear  made  me  welcome  in 
the  only  language  that  does  not  make  my 
heart  weigh  heavy,  —  the  elegant  Cherokee 
language." 

The  spellbound  listeners  had  broken  out 
with  irritated  protests  against  the  interrup 
tion,  and  Tus-ka-sah  said  no  more. 

As  the  blasts  went  sonorously  over  the 
house  and  the  flames  swirled  anew  into  the 
murky  atmosphere  of  the  interior,  a  weird, 
half-smothered  voice  suddenly  invaded  the 
restored  quiet  of  the  hearthstone:  "Eeon-a, 
Ha-hoo-jah  !  Eeon-a,  Ha-hoo-jah  !  " 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     291 

Like  an  echo  the  barbaric  chant  vibrated 
through  the  room.  One  of  the  sleepers,  a 
half  -  grown  youth,  had  semi  -  consciously 
caught  the  familiar  refrain  and  sang  it  in 
that  strange  uncanny  voice  of  slumber. 
The  tones  gave  fitting  effect  to  the  gro 
tesque  details  of  the  supernatural  adventure, 
and  as  Tus-ka-sah  rose  and  surlily  took  his 
way  toward  the  door  his  departure  did  not 
attract  even  casual  notice  from  the  listeners, 
hanging  enthralled  upon  the  words  of  the 
Great  Eeon-a,  so  veraciously  repeated  for 
their  behoof.  Their  eyes  showed  intent 
even  in  the  murky  gloom  and  glistened  lus 
trous  in  the  alternate  fitful  flare  ;  the  red 
walls  seemed  to  recede  and  advance  as  the 
flames  rose  and  fell ;  the  sleeping  boy  on 
the  broad  bed-place  stirred  uneasily,  fling 
ing  now  and  again  a  restless  arm  from  out 
the  panther  skins  in  which  he  was  enveloped, 
and  ever  and  anon  his  cry,  "  Eeon-a,  Ha- 
hoo-jah!  Eeon-a,  ffa-hoo-jah!"  punctuated 
the  impressive  dramatic  tones  of  the  racon 
teur. 

The  next  instant  Tus-ka-sah  was  in  the 
utter  darkness  of  the  narrow  tortuous  little 
passage,  but  after  threading  this  he  came 


292     THE  BEWITCHED  BALI^STICKS 

out  of  the  doorway  into  the  keen  chill  air 
of  a  snowy  world,  the  scintillations  of  frosty 
stars,  the  languid,  glamourous  radiance  of 
the  yellow  moon,  low  in  the  sky,  and  his 
accustomed  mental  atmosphere  of  the  plain 
est  of  plain  prose.  His  thoughts  were  with 
the  group  he  had  just  left,  and  he  marveled 
if  no  influence  could  be  brought  to  reduce 
the  prestige  with  which  the  immaterial 
chief  of  the  bears,  the  fabled  Eeon-a,  had 
contrived  to  invest  the  illusory  Amoyah. 

Tus-ka-sah's  expectations  concerning  the 
weather  were  promptly  justified.  A  contin 
ual  dripping  from  the  roofs  and  trees  per 
vaded  the  early  hours  of  the  morning,  and 
soon  the  snow  was  all  gone  here  in  the 
valley;  even  the  domes  of  the  mountains 
so  early  whitened  with  drifts  showed  now 
a  bare,  dark,  sketch -like  outline  against 
the  horizon  and  above -the  garnet  tint  of 
the  massed  sere  boughs  of  the  forests  of  the 
slopes.  A  warm  sun  shone.  Not  a  summer 
bird  was  yet  lingering,  but  here  and  there 
a  crisp  red  leaf  winged  the  blue  sky  as 
gallantly  as  any  crested  cardinal  of  them 
all.  The  town  of  loco  was  now  astir,  and 
Tus-ka-sah  noted  how  the  softening  of  the 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     293 

air  had  brought  out  the  inhabitants  from 
their  winter  houses.  Children  played  about 
the  doorways ;  boys  in  canoes  shot  down  the 
shimmering  reaches  of  the  river;  warriors 
congregated  in  the  council-house  and  the 
half -open  buildings  surrounding  the  "  be 
loved  square,"  and  in  its  sunny  sandy  spaces 
sundry  old  men  were  placidly  engaged  in 
the  game  of  "  roll  the  bullet." 

It  was  at  this  group  that  Tus-ka-sah 
looked  with  an  intent  gaze  and  a  sort  of 

o 

indignant  question  in  his  manner,  and  pre 
sently  an  elderly  Cherokee,  one  of  the 
cheera-taghe  of  the  town,  detached  himself 
from  it  and  came  toward  him.  Despite 
this  show  of  alacrity  Cheesto  distinctly 
winced  as  he  contemplated  the  sullen  and 
averse  mien  of  his  client  or  parishioner,  for 
the  relation  in  which  Tus-ka-sah  stood  to 
ward  him  partook  of  the  characteristics  of 
both.  The  professional  wiseacre,  however, 
made  shift  to  recover  himself. 

"  I  will  tell  you  what  you  have  come  to 
tell  me,"  the  prophet  said  quickly.  "  The 
spell  on  Amoyah  does  not  work." 

Tus-ka-sah  assented  surlily,  gazing  mean 
while  at  the  face  of  the  conjurer.  It  was  a 


294     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

face  in  which  the  eyes  were  set  so  close 
together  as  to  suggest  a  squint,  although 
they  were  not  crossed.  He  had  an  uncer 
tain  and  dilatory  tread,  the  trait  of  one 
who  hesitates,  and  decides  in  doubt,  and 
forthwith  repents  ;  being  in  his  prophetic 
character  an  appraiser  of  the  probable,  and 
the  sport  of  the  possible.  He  wore  many 
beads  in  strings  around  his  neck,  and  big 
earrings  of  silver,  heavy  and  costly.  His  fur 
garments  reached  long  and  robe-like  almost 
to  his  feet,  the  shaggy  side  of  the  pelt  out 
ward,  the  weather  being  damp,  for  when  it 
was  dry  and  cold  it  was  customary  to  wear 
the  fur  turned  inward. 

The  wise  man  had  been  recently  unfor 
tunate  in  his  sorcery.  The  corn  crop  had 
been  cut  short  by  reason  of  a  lack  of  rain 
which  he  had  promised  should  fall  in  June. 
He  had  justified  the  drought,  in  the  opinion 
of  most  of  the  Indians,  by  feigning  illness 
and  taking  to  his  bed ;  for  by  these  it  was  be 
lieved  that  if  he  had  been  able  to  be  up  and 
about  his  ordinary  vocations  the  preposter 
ous  conduct  of  the  weather  must  needs  have 
been  restrained.  The  fields  about  loco  had 
suffered  especially,  and  Tus-ka-sah,  as  the 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     295 

chief  business  man  of  that  town,  had  mani 
fested  half  veiled  suspicions  that  the  art  of 
the  conjurer  was  incompetent ;  this  ren 
dered  Cheesto  particularly  solicitous  to  suc 
ceed  when  his  magic  had  been  invoked  to 
reduce  the  attractions  of  Amoyah  in  the  eyes 
of  Altsasti  and  turn  her  heart  toward  Tus- 
ka-sah.  For  among  the  Indians  the  lives  of 
the  weather-prophets  were  not  safe  from 
the  aggrieved  agriculturists,  and  there  are 
authentic  cases  in  which  the  cheera-taghe 
suffered  death  by  tribal  law  as  false  con 
jurers.  Cheesto  fixed  an  anxious  gaze  upon 
his  interlocutor  as  Tus-ka-sah  rehearsed,  by 
way  of  illustrating  how  worthless  were  the 
charms  wrought,  the  unsubstantial  fiction 
that  had  so  beguiled  the  'fancy  of  Altsasti, 
and  posed  Amoyah  in  the  splendid  guise  of 
the  representative  of  the  great  Eeon-a  in  the 
shadow-march  of  the  bears. 

The  fate  of  the  over-wise  is  ever  the  sor 
rowful  dispensation.  The  fool  may  be  merry 
and  irresponsible.  Cheesto  was  at  his  wit's 
end.  With  that  unlucky  drought  in  June 
to  confront  him,  and  dealing  with  the  sharp 
business  man  of  loco,  who  exacted  his  due 
in  the  exchange  of  the  Fates  as  rigorously 


296     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

as  if  in  a  merely  mundane  market,  the  jeop 
ardy  of  the  magician  was  great  and  his  dis 
credit  almost  assured. 

Old  Cheesto  set  his  jaw  firmly.  Somehow, 
somewhere,  something  must  be  wrought  that 
would  place  Amoyah  at  a  disadvantage  and 
bring  ridicule  upon  him.  No  great  matter, 
it  might  be  said,  to  compass  the  change 
of  a  fickle  woman's  mind,  to  disconcert  a 
giddy  young  man.  But  how?  Cheesto  was 
aweary  of  his  own  incantations  and  his  inef 
fectual  spells.  He  would  fain  lend  Fate  a 
muscular  hand. 

This  thought  was  uppermost  in  his  mind 
for  several  days,  even  when  he  went  with  the 
other  cheera-taghe  of  loco  to  share  in  the 
conjurations  and  incantations  of  the  pre 
liminary  ceremonials  of  the  Ball-Play,  with 
out  which  success  would  never  be  antici 
pated,  for  a  great  match  between  the  towns 
of  loco  and  Niowee  was  impending. 

This  game  was  usually  played  in  the  mid 
summer  or  fall,  but  it  would  seem  that  the 
unseasonable  cold  weather  was  well  suited 
for  such  violent  exercise  and  the  severe 
physical  training  which  preceded  it,  and  al 
though  Amoyah  noticed  ice  in  the  river  as 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     297 

he  dashed  in  for  the  ceremonial  plunge 
which  accompanies  the  incantations,  he  re 
membered  the  fact  for  a  different  reason 
than  discomfort. 

The  eighty  ball-players  of  loco  stood  in  a 
row  near  the  bank,  submerged  to  the  knees. 
They  had  gone  in  with  a  tumultuous  rush, 
and  with  their  faces  painted,  their  heads 
crested  with  feathers,  clad  fantastically  and 
gorgeously  but  scantily,  they  were  hold 
ing  their  ball-sticks  high  in  the  air  with  an 
eager  grasp, — all  except  Amoyah.  Although 
still  in  his  place  in  the  line,  he  was  looking 
over  his  shoulder  with  an  amazed  and  startled 
gaze. 

For  there  upon  the  bank,  as  if  struck 
from  his  hand  in  the  confusion  and  turmoil 
of  first  entering  the  water,  lay  his  ball- 
sticks.  He  seemed  about  to  return  for  them, 
as  the  implement  of  the  game  must  be  dipped 
also  in  the  water  at  the  appropriate  moment 
of  the  incantation.  But  old  Cheesto,  the 
Rabbit,  motioned  him  to  forbear  lest  by  this 
unprecedented  quitting  of  the  line  during 
the  ceremonial  the  efficacy  of  the  spell  be 
annulled ;  he  himself  stooped  down  and 
picked  up  the  ball-sticks.  Then,  notwith- 


298     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

standing  his  age  and  his  fierce  rheumatism, 
notwithstanding  his  long  and  cumbrous  robe 
of  buffalo  skin,  the  skirt  of  which  he  seemed 
to  clutch  with  difficulty,  he  plunged  into 
the  icy  water,  waded  out  to  the  young  man, 
handed  him  the  ball-sticks,  and  regained  the 
bank  just  as  the  other  cheera-taghe  standing 
at  the  margin  of  the  river  began  the  incan 
tations  supposed  to  influence  the  success  of 
the  competition. 

This  Indian  game,  which  has  left  its  name 
on  one  of  the  watercourses  of  Tennessee, 
Ball-Play  Creek,  required  a  level  space  of 
some  five  or  six  hundred  yards  in  length 
but  no  other  preparation  of  the  ground. 
At  one  end,  in  the  direction  of  Niowee,  two 
tall  poles  were  fixed  firmly  in  the  earth 
about  three  yards  apart,  and  slanting  out 
ward.  At  the  end  toward  loco  a  similar 
goal  was  prepared.  Every  time  the  ball 
should  be  thrown  over  either  goal  the  play 
would  count  one  for  the  proximate  town, 
and  the  game  was  of  twelve  or  twenty  points 
according  to  compact,  the  catcher  of  the 
twentieth  ball  being  entitled  to  especial 
honor.  It  was  of  course  the  object  of  each 
side  to  throw  the  ball  over  the  goal  toward 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     299 

their  own  town,  and  to  prevent  it  from 
going  in  the  direction  of  the  town  of  the 
opposing  faction. 

All  the  morning  crowds  of  Cherokees  of 
all  ages  and  both  sexes  had  been  gather 
ing  from  the  neighboring  towns,  and  were 
congregated  in  the  wide  spaces  about  the 
course  at  loco.  These  fields  had  earlier 
been  planted  in  corn,  but  the  harvest  had 
stripped  the  plain,  and  now  the  trampling 
of  hundreds  of  feet  erased  all  vestiges  of  the 
growth  except  for  the  yellow-gray  tint  of 
the  stubble,  spreading  out  on  every  side  to 
the  brown  of  the  dense  fallen  leaves  on  the 
slopes  where  the  forests  began  to  climb  the 
mountain  sides.  Here  and  there  fires  were 
kindled  where  some  spectator  felt  the  keen 
chill  of  the  approaching  winter,  and  more 
than  one  meal  was  in  progress,  —  perhaps 
such  groups  had  come  from  far.  Pack- 
horses  were  in  evidence  laden  with  rich 
garments  of  fur,  various  peltry,  blankets, 
valuable  gear  of  every  sort  to  be  staked  on 
the  result  of  the  game,  and  soon  the  men 
were  betting  heavily.  All  the  various  tones 
of  the  gamut  were  on  the  air,  —  the  deep 
bass  guttural  laugh  of  the  braves ;  the  shrill 


300     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

callow  yelping  of  boys ;  the  absent-minded 
bawl  of  spoiled  pappooses  interested  in  the 
stir,  but  with  an  ever-recurrent  recollection 
of  the  business  of  vocally  disciplining  their 
patient  mothers  ;  the  keen  treble  chatter  of 
women,  —  all  were  suddenly  resolved  into 
a  strong  dominant  chord  of  sound  as  a  tre 
mendous  shout  arose  upon  the  appearance 
of  the  ball-players  of  loco.  Fresh  from  the 
river,  they  made  a  glittering  show  with  the 
tossing  feathers  of  their  crested  heads,  their 
faces  painted  curiously  and  fantastically  in 
white,  the  bright  tints  of  their  gaudy  though 
scanty  raiment,  their  bare  arms  and  legs  sup 
pled  with  unguents  and  shining  in  the  sun. 
This  note  of  welcome  had  hardly  died  away 
and  the  echo  of  the  encompassing  moun 
tains  grown  silent,  whesi  an  agitated  murmur 
of  excitement  went  sibilantly  through  the 
throng. 

A  cloud  of  dust  was  approaching  in  the 
distance,  heralding  a  band  of  men.  A  new 
sound  invoked  the  echoes.  The  breath  was 
held  to  hear  it.  The  throb  of  a  drum  — 
faint  —  far.  And  here  thunderously  beat 
ing,  hard  at  hand,  overpowering  all  lesser 
sounds,  the  drums  of  loco  responded.  To 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS    301 

the  vibrations  of  these  sonorous  earthen 
cylinders,  the  sticks  plied  with  a  will  on  the 
heads  of  wet  deerskins  tightly  stretched, 
the  ball-players  of  Niowee  advanced.  In  a 
diagonal  direction  and  at  a  sturdy  trot  they 
came  for  a  space,  —  a  sudden  halt  ensued, 
and  eighty  pairs  of  muscular  feet  smote 
tumultuously  on  the  ground.  Then  once 
more  forward  diagonally,  at  that  swinging 
jaunty  pace,  and  the  stamping  pause  as  be 
fore.  The  sound  seemed  to  shake  the  ground, 
the  impact  of  the  feet  with  the  earth  was 
heard  despite  the  turmoil  of  the  drums  ;  the 
stamping  vibrations  were  felt  in  the  midst 
of  the  stir  of  the  crowds,  and  now  in  the 
nearer  approach  the  individual  faces  could 
be  distinguished,  wildly  painted  ;  the  ath 
letic  figures,  gaudily  clad  and  barbarically 
decorated ;  the  ball-sticks,  held  aloft  in  a 
sort  of  rhythmic  vibration  as  if  quivering 
for  a  chance  at  the  ball ;  and  fourscore  wild 
young  voices  howled  defiance  at  loco  Town, 
whose  youth  in  return  howled  its  municipal 
pride,  failing  only  with  failing  breath. 

They  were  all  in  the  course  at  last.  The 
judges,  elderly  warriors  and  absolutely  im 
partial,  chosen  from  towns  which  had  no 


302     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

interest  at  stake  in  the  match,  were  seated 
on  a  little  knoll,  commanding  a  view  of  the 
ground,  but  at  a  sufficient  distance  to  be  in 
no  danger  from  a  maladroit  handling  of  the 
ball.  This  was  made  of  deerskin,  stuffed 
hard  with  hair,  and  sewn  up  with  deer 
sinews.  The  ball-sticks,  of  which  each  player 
owned  his  pair,  were  also  partly  made  of 
deerskin,  the  two  scoops  or  ladles  being  fash 
ioned  of  a  network  of  thongs  on  a  wooden 
hoop,  each  furnished  with  a  handle  of  hick 
ory  three  feet  long,  worked  together  with  a 
thong  of  deerskin  to  catch  the  ball  between 
the  rackets,  —  it  being  of  course  prohibited 
to  catch  the  ball  in  the  hand. 

The  drums  beat  furiously ;  the  word  was 
given ;  the  ball  was  flung  high  in  the  air  in 
the  middle  of  the  course,  and  the  next  in 
stant  one  hundred  and  sixty  young  athletes 
rushed  together  with  a  mighty  shock  the 
force  of  which  seemed  to  shake  the  ground. 
Some  fell  and  were  trampled  in  the  crush ; 
others  madly  clutched  one  another,  friend 
or  foe,  with  the  ill-aimed  ball-sticks,  inflict 
ing  a  snapping  hurt  like  a  bite,  —  a  wound 
by  no  means  to  be  despised.  One,  an  ex 
pert,  sent  the  ball  with  an  artful  twirl 
• 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     303 

through  the  air  toward  the  loco  goal,  and 
in  the  midst  of  a  shout  that  rent  the  sky 
the  whole  rout  of  players  went  frantically 
flying  after  it,  whirling  with  an  incredible 
swiftness  and  agility  when  it  was  caught 
midway,  and  hurled  back  toward  Niowee 
with  a  force  as  if  it  had  been  flung  from 
a  catapult.  Here  and  there  individual  play 
ers  in  the  frenzied  chase  made  wonderful 
records  of  leaps  in  their  efforts  to  catch  the 
ball,  springing  into  the  air  with  a  surpris 
ing  strength  and  elasticity,  and  a  lightness 
as  of  creatures  absolutely  without  weight. 

A  good  match  they  were  playing ;  for 
more  than  half  an  hour  neither  side  was 
permitted  by  the  other  to  score  a  single 
point.  The  ball  seemed  for  a  time  as  if  it 
were  awing  forever,  and  would  fall  to  the 
ground  no  more.  The  casualties  were  many ; 
almost  always  after  one  of  those  sudden 
rushes  together  of  both  factions  that  had 
a  tremendous  momentum  as  of  galloping 
squadrons,  the  ground  would  show  as  the 
moving  masses  receded  half  a  dozen  figures 
prone  upon  the  course  ;  one  with  a^broken 
arm  perhaps  ;  another  badly  snapped  by  the 
inartistically  plied  ball-sticks  of  friend  or 


304     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

foe  and  crawling  off  with  a  bloody  pate  ; 
sometimes  another  lying  quite  still,  evidently 
stunned  and  to  be  hastily  dragged  off  the 
course  by  spectators,  before  another  stam 
pede  of  the  ball-players  crush  the  life  out  of 
the  unconscious  and  prostrate  wight.  Nev 
ertheless  only  the  normal  interest,  which 
however  was  very  great,  appertained  to  the 
match  until  at  a  crisis  a  strange  thing  hap 
pened,  inexplicable  then,  and  perhaps  never 
fully  understood. 

The  ball  was  flying  toward  the  Niowee 
goal  and  the  whole  field  was  in  full  run 
after  it.  The  blow  that  had  impelled  it  had 
been  something  tremendous.  A  shout  of 
triumph  was  already  welling  up  from  the 
throat  of  all  Niowee,  for  to  prevent  the 
scoring  of  a  point  in  its  favor  it  would  seem 
that  there  must  be  a  thing  afoot  whose 
fleetness  could  exceed  the  speed  of  a  thing 
awing. 

Amoyah,  the  deftest  runner  of  all  the 
Tennessee  River  country,  was  foremost  in 
the  crown  of  swift  athletes ;  presently  he 
was  detached  by  degrees  from  it ;  now  he 
was  definitely  in  advance ;  and  soon,  spurt 
ing  tremendously,  he  had  so  neared  the 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     305 

Niowee  goal  that  the  ball  just  above  must 
needs  pass  over  it  if  a  spring  might  not 
enable  him  to  capture  it  at  the  last  mo 
ment.  As  agile  as  a  deer,  and  as  light  as  a 
bird,  he  leaped  into  the  air,  both  arms 
upstretched,  holding  the  rackets  aloft  and 
ready.  He  was  a  far-famed  player,  and  even 
now  the  loco  spectators  were  shouting, 
Amoyah  needs  must  win  ! 

A  mysterious  silence  fell  suddenly.  They 
all  saw  what  had  happened.  There  could 
be  no  mistake.  The  rackets  parted  at  the 
propitious  moment  to  receive  the  ball.  The 
netting  closed  about  it.  And  then,  as  if  it 
had  met  with  no  impediment  whatever,  the 
ball  passed  through  the  stanch  web  of  thongs 
and  over  the  poles,  and  falling  to  the  ground 
counted  one  for  Niowee. 

The  spectators  from  that  town  in  their 
astonishment  forgot  to  shout.  The  onrush- 
ing  crowd  of  players,  bearing  down  upon 
Amoyah,  having  intended  to  force  him  to 
drop  the  ball,  which  he  had  seemed  predes 
tined  to  catch,  or  to  throw  it  so  ill  as  to 
deliver  it  into  the  power  of  Niowee  still 
to  secure  the  point,  could  not  arrest  their 
own  momentum,  and  went  over  the  startled 


306     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

and  dumfounded  player  in  a  swift  dash, 
leaving  him  prone  upon  the  ground.  He 
was  on  his  feet  in  an  instant,  his  physical 
faculties  rallying  promptly,  but  so  bewil 
dered  and  doubtful  that  he  had  but  one 
definite  mental  process,  the  resolve  to  regain 
for  loco  the  point  he  had  so  mysteriously 
lost.  Twice  afterward  his  fine  playing  fo 
cused  the  attention  of  the  crowd.  Twice 
their  plaudits  of  his  skill  rang  through  the 
vibrating  air.  Then  the  ball,  hardly  checked 
by  the  web  of  his  racket,  passed  through 
the  ball-sticks,  and  all  realized  their  be 
witchment. 

Amoyah  heard  the  gossip  afloat  concern 
ing  the  matter  before  he  had  well  quitted 
the  course.  The  Great  Bear  had  torn  the 
net  of  the  ball-sticks  with  his  claw,  one 
brave  was  telling  another  as  he  passed,  be 
cause  Amoyah  had  unveraciously  boasted 
that  he  had  walked  by  invitation  in  the  pro 
cession  of  the  bears  during  their  annual 
march  with  their  shadows  at  their  hidden 
mysterious  town  in  the  Great  Smoky  Moun 
tains. 

Amoyah  paused,  tired,  excited,  panting, 
and  critically  examined  the  web.  Surely 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS     307 

enough  the  interlacing  thongs  had  parted 
in  twain  in  two  straight  lines,  invisible  save 
on  close  inspection,  as  deftly  and  as  evenly 
severed  as  if  cut  with  a  keen  knife. 

It  was  late  in  the  day.  The  sun  was  now 
on  a  westering  slant.  The  parties  of  spec 
tators  were  breaking  up,  some  to  journey 
homeward,  others  going  into  the  town  with 
friends.  The  place  that  the  crowd  had  occu 
pied  had  that  peculiarly  dreary  aspect  char 
acteristic  of  a  deserted  pleasure  ground. 
Trampled  heavily  it  was,  and  the  charred 
remnant  of  a  fire  showed  black  here  and 
there ;  broken  bits  of  food  were  scattered 
in  places  where  feasting  had  been  ;  a  great 
gourd  that  had  held  some  gallons  of  water 
lay  shattered  on  the  ground  at  his  feet ;  a 
group  at  a  distance  were  doubtfully  retra 
cing  their  steps,  searching  for  something 
they  had  lost ;  at  the  farthest  limits  a  wolf 
like  a  dog,  or  a  dog  like  a  wolf,  was  gnaw 
ing  at  a  bone,  and  snarling  as  he  gnawed. 
It  was  all  frowzy,  jaded,  forlorn. 

Somehow  suddenly  he  had  a  sense  of 
freshness,  an  illumination,  as  it  were  a 
vision,  of  the  early  morning  light  striking 
through  a  network  of  bare  trees  upon  the 


308     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

shimmering  reaches  of  a  river.  And  there 
on  the  bank  lay  his  ball-sticks,  —  quite 
good  and  sound  then,  he  would  have  staked 
his  life.  And  now  a  picture  was  before 
him,  —  being  a  man  of  fancy,  he  thought 
in  pictures,  —  a  picture  of  old  Cheesto  the 
Rabbit  holding  the  ball-sticks  half  hidden 
in  the  folds  of  his  great  fur  robe  and  wad 
ing  out  into  the  ice-cold  water  to  restore 
them.  And  old  Cheesto,  he  reflected,  was 
one  of  the  cheera-taghe  of  loco,  and  could 
work  a  spell  quite  as  well  as  the  Great  Bear, 
who  had  gone  to  bed  for  the  winter  two 
weeks  ago,  and  had  not  heard  of  ball-sticks 
within  the  memory  of  man,  —  perhaps  not 
since  he  was  a  Cherokee  himself,  and  play 
ing  with  the  rest  on  the  course  at  Tennessee 
Town. 

In  fact,  old  Cheesto,  in  common  with 
many  men  not  Cherokees,  cared  little  for 
the  public  weal  when  it  interfered  with  pri 
vate  interest.  But  he  had  not  realized  how 
much  he  had  jeopardized  the  success  of  loco 
Town  in  cutting  the  netting  of  the  ball- 
sticks.  He  had  imagined  the  incompleteness 
of  the  racket  would  merely  show  Amoyah 
as  incompetent,  render  his  play  futile  and 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS    309 

ineffective,  and  discredit  him  with  both 
friend  and  foe.  Never,  however,  had  the 
play  of  any  one  man  been  so  important  and 
conspicuous  as  his  to-day  when  the  be 
witched  ball-sticks  became  the  salient  fea 
ture  and  the  living  tradition  of  the  match 
between  loco  and  Niowee.  For  despite  these 
points,  thus  lost  by  supernatural  agency  to 
Niowee,  the  bewitchment  of  the  ball-sticks 
only  served  to  illustrate  the  superior  skill  of 
the  loco  team,  and  to  embellish  their  victory. 

Amoyah  had  nothing  but  his  imagination 
to  support  his  theory,  but  it  seemed  singu 
larly  credible  to  Altsasti,  to  whom  he  re 
hearsed  it,  finding  her  seated  on  the  ground 
before  the  door  of  her  winter  house  in  great 
dreariness  of  spirit,  that  he  should  in  play 
ing  so  well  have  won  nothing  and  merely 
jeopardized  the  game. 

"I  am  afraid  of  that  Great  Bear/'  she 
declared,  eying  the  ball-sticks  askance  as  he 
came  up. 

Then  revealing  his  theory  of  the  spell 
that  old  Cheesto  had  wrought  upon  him  in 
Tus-ka-sah's  interest,  Amoyah  proposed  a 
counter-spell  which  would  defeat  Tus-ka- 
sah. 


310     THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS 

"  But  Cheesto  can  still  send  you  trouble 
if  you  have  a  wife,"  she  argued. 

"  Ah,  no,"  the  specious  Amoyah  replied. 
"  Everybody  knows  that  a  man's  wife  makes 
him  all  the  trouble  that  he  needs." 

To  save  him  from  these  woes  devised  by 
others  Altsasti  undertook  to  give  him  all 
the  trouble  he  needed.  But  he  seemed  quite 
cheerful  in  the  prospect,  and  as  she  cooked 
the  supper  within  doors  he  sat  at  the  en 
trance,  much  at  home,  singing,  "  Eeon-ay 
Ha-hoo-jah  f  Eeon-a,  Ha-hoo-jah  !  " 

Tus-ka-sah  upbraided  the  magician  with 
the  result  of  this  victory,  by  which  he  was 
defeated.  And  the  wise  man  threw  up  eyes 
and  hands  at  his  ingratitude. 

"  I  set  the  Great  Bear  after  Amoyah  for 
you !  I  made  the  Eeon-a  acquainted  with  his 
boastful  lies,  and  he  bewitched  Amoyah's 
ball-sticks  that  his  fine  play  might  come  to 
nothing." 

Very  little  to  the  purpose,  the  disaffected 
man  of  facts  reflected,  remembering  the  im 
pression  produced  by  his  rival's  display  of 
skill.  Somehow  Amoyah  seemed  beyond  the 
reach  of  logic.  "  Why  did  you  not  instead 
bewitch  the  woman  ?  "  Tus-ka-sah  asked. 


THE  BEWITCHED  BALL-STICKS    311 

But  this  wiliest  of  the  cheera-taghe  shook 
his  head. 

"If  she  had  been  a  mere  woman/'  he 
said.  "  But  a  widow  is  a  witch  herself." 

"  Eeon-a,  Ha-hoo-jah  !  Eeon-a,  Ha-hoo- 
jah  !  "  sang  Amoyah  at  the  door  of  the 
winter  house. 

Eeon-a,  the  Great  Bear,  made  no  sign 
and  slept  in  peace  at  his  town  house  in  the 
mountains. 

And  since  then,  as  always  before,  under 
the  first  icy  moon  of  the  winter  the  com 
pany  of  bears  with  their  feather-crested 
shadows  take  up  their  mysterious  march 
seven  times  around  the  "  beloved  square " 
of  their  ancient  secluded  town  in  the  Great 
Smoky  Mountains,  which  it  is  said  may  be 
seen  to  this  day  —  by  all  who  can  find  it ! 


THE  VISIT  OF  THE  TURBULENT 
GRANDFATHER 


THE  VISIT  OF  THE  TURBU 
LENT  GRANDFATHER 

IT  was  long  remembered  in  the  Cherokee 
nation.  Their  grandfather  came  to  the 
Overhill  towns  on  the  banks  of  the  Ten 
nessee  River  in  a  most  imperious  frame  of 
mind. 

"  Give  me  a  belt !  "  he  cried  in  irrelevant 
response  to  every  gracious  overture  of  hos 
pitality.  For  although  presents  were  heaped 
upon  him,  the  official  belt  of  the  Cherokee 
nation  was  not  among  them,  and  he  cast 
them  all  aside  as  mere  baubles. 

Even  the  clever  subterfuges  of  that  mas 
ter  of  statecraft,  the  half-king,  Atta-Kulla- 
Kulla,  might  not  avail.  "  N'tschutti  !  " 
(Dear  friend)  he  said  once  in  eager  propi 
tiation  ;  "  Gooch  Hi  lehelecheu  ?  "  (Does 
your  father  yet  li ve  ?)  He  spoke  in  a  gentle 
voice  and  slowly,  the  Delaware  language 
being  unaccustomed  to  his  lips.  "  Tell  the 
great  sakimau  I  well  remember  him  !  "  And 
he  laid  a  string  of  beads  on  the  arm  of  the 


316  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

quivering  Lenape,  for  their  grandfather  was 
of  that  nationality. 

But  what  flout  of  Fate  was  this?  Not 
the  coveted  string  of  wampum,  the  official 
token,  its  significance  not  to  be  argued 
away,  or  overlooked,  or  mistaken  —  but 
instead  a  necklace  of  pearls,  the  fine  fresh 
water  gems  of  the  region,  so  often  men 
tioned  by  the  elder  writers  and  since  held 
to  be  mythical  or  exaggeration  of  the  pol 
ish  of  mere  shell  beads  till  the  recent  dis 
coveries  have  placed  once  more  the  yield 
of  the  Unio  margaritiferus  of  the  rivers 
of  Tennessee  on  metropolitan  markets. 

A  personal  gift  —  of  the  rarest,  it  is  true 
—  but  a  mere  trifle  in  the  estimation  of 
Tscholens,  in  comparison  with  that  national 
recognition  which  he  craved  and  which  a 
tribe  of  warriors  awaited. 

The  irate  grandfather  flung  the  glossy 
trinket  from  him  down  among  the  ashes  of 
the  fire,  which  glowed  in  the  centre  of  the 
floor  of  the  great  council-house  of  the  town 
of  Citico,  one  of  the  dome-shaped  buildings, 
plastered  as  usual  within  and  without  with 
richly  tinted  red  clay.  The  flicker  from  the 
coals  revealed  the  rows  of  posts  that  like 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER  317 

a  colonnade  upheld  the  roof;  the  cane- 
wrought  divan  encircling  the  apartment 
between  these  columns  and  the  window- 
less  walls ;  the  astonished  faces  and  feather- 
crested  heads  of  the  conclave  of  Chero 
kee  chiefs  from  half  a  dozen  towns  as  they 
clustered  around  the  fire  and  stared  at 
Tscholens. 

The  grave  emotion  in  his  face  dignified 
its  expression  despite  its  savagery.  Paradox 
ically  the  grandfather  was  young,  slender, 
and,  rated  by  any  other  standard  than  that 
of  the  Cherokees,  an  unusually  tall  people, 
would  have  been  considered  of  fine  height. 
His  muscular  arms  were  bare  except  for  his 
heavy  silver  bracelets ;  a  tuft  of  feathers 
quivered  high  on  his  head;  his  leggings 
were  of  deerskin,  embroidered  with  parti 
colored  quills  of  the  porcupine,  and  his  shirt 
was  of  fine  sable  fur.  His  voice  was  sono 
rously  insistent. 

"N'petcdogalgun!  "  (I  am  sent  as  a  mes 
senger)  he  declared  urgently.  "  Give  me  a 
belt." 

He  turned  his  flaming  eyes  directly  upon 
Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  himself  in  the  prime  of 
life  now,  in  1745,  who  it  seemed  must  act 


318  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

definitely  under  this  coercion.  He  must 
either  refuse  to  testify  to  the  truth,  which 
he  knew,  or  involve  his  people,  the  Chero- 
kees,  in  a  quarrel  which  did  not  concern 
them,  of  which  a  century  was  tired,  between 
the  Lenni  Lenape  and  the  Mengwe. 

So  long  ago  it  had  begun  !  The  Mengwe, 
hard  pressed  by  other  nations  and  long  at 
war  with  the  Lenape,  besought  peace  of 
this  foe,  and  that  they  would  use  their  in 
fluence  with  the  others.  Usually  women, 
prompted  always  by  the  losing  side,  pro 
tested  against  the  further  effusion  of  blood 
and  went  with  intercessions  from  one  fac 
tion  to  the  other.  This,  in  view  of  the 
number  and  devious  interests  of  the  war 
ring  forces,  was  then  impracticable,  and 
therefore  the  Mengwe  besought  the  Lenape 
to  act  as  mediator  for  the  occasion.  Only 
so  noted  a  race  of  warriors  could  afford  this 
magnanimity,  the  Mengwe  argued.  It  might 
impair  the  prestige  of  a  less  high-couraged 
and  powerful  tribe.  And  with  these  spe 
cious  wiles  the  cat  was  duly  belled. 

But  alas  for  the  Lenape !  Magnanimity 
is  the  most  dangerous  of  all  the  virtues  — 
to  its  possessor  !  Presently  the  Mengwe 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER    319 

claimed  to  have  conquered  the  Lenape  in 
battle,  and  cited  the  well-known  fact  that 
they  had  inaugurated  peace  proposals.  As 
the  Mengwe  confederation  grew  more  pow 
erful  they  assumed  all  the  arrogance  of  a 
protectorate.  They  sold  the  lands  of  their 
dependents.  They  resented  all  action  of  the 
Lenape  on  their  own  account.  If  the  Lenape 
went  to  war  on  some  quarrel  of  their  mak 
ing,  they  had  the  Mengwe  to  reckon  with 
as  well  as  the  enemy.  As  the  years  rolled 
by  in  scores,  this  fiction  gradually  assumed 
all  the  binding  force  of  fact,  till  now  it  was 
felt  that  only  by  the  avowal  of  the  truth 
by  some  powerful  tribe,  both  ancient  and 
contemporary,  such  as  the  Cherokee,  —  who, 
although  allied  neither  linguistically  nor 
consanguineously,  by  some  abstruse  figment 
of  Indian  etiquette  affected  an  affiliation 
to  the  Lenape  and  called  them  "grand 
father,"  —  could  their  rightful  independ 
ence  be  recognized,  reestablished,  and  main 
tained.  Therefore,  "  Give  me  a  belt !  "  cried 
Tscholens  pertinaciously,  offering  in  ex 
change  the  official  belt  of  the  Delawares, 
or,  as  they  were  called,  Lenni  Lenape. 
Nothing  less  would  content  him.  He 


320  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

hardened  himself  as  flint  against  all  suave 
beguilements  tending  to  effect  a  diversion 
of  interest.  He  would  not  see  the  horse 
race.  He  would  not  "  roll  the  bullet."  He 
would  not  witness  the  game  of  chungke, 
expressly  played  in  honor  of  his  visit.  He 
even  refused  to  join  in  the  dance,  although 
young  and  nimble.  But  it  chanced  that 
the  three  circles  were  awhirl  on  the  sandy 
spaces  contiguous  to  the  "  beloved  square  " 
when  the  first  break  in  the  cohesion  of  his 
pertinacity  occurred.  The  red  sunset  was 
widely  aflare ;  the  dizzy  rout  of  the  shad 
ows  of  the  dancers,  all  gregarious  and  in 
tricately  involved  in  the  three  circles,  kept 
the  moving  figures  company.  These  suc 
cessive  circles,  one  within  another,  followed 
each  a  different  direction  in  their  revolu 
tions  to  the  music  of  the  primitive  flute, 
fashioned  of  the  bone  of  a  deer  (the  tibia), 
and  the  stertorous  sonorities  of  the  earthen 
drums ;  and  as  the  fantastically  attired  fig 
ures  whirled  around  and  around,  their  dull 
gray  shadows  whisked  to  and  fro  on  the 
golden  brown  sand,  all  in  the  red  sunset 
glow. 

Tscholens,    quitting    the    council-house, 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER  321 

glanced  but  indifferently  at  them  and  then 
away  at  the  lengthening  perspective  of  the 
azure  mountains  of  the  Great  Smoky  range. 
The  harbingers  of  the  twilight  were  ad 
vancing  in  a  soft  blue  haze  over  the  purple 
and  garnet  tinted  slopes  near  at  hand,  their 
forests  all  leafless  now,  although  the  au 
tumn  had  lingered  long,  and  the  burnished 
golden  days  of  the  Indian  summer  were 
loath  to  go.  Lights  were  springing  up  here 
and  there  in  the  town  as  the  glow  of  the 
hearths  of  the  dwellings,  where  supper  was 
cooking,  flickered  out  to  meet  on  the  thresh 
old  the  rays  of  the  departing  sun,  which 
seemed  to  pause  there  for  a  farewell  glance 
in  at  the  open  door.  In  the  centre  of  the 
"  beloved  square "  the  fire  which  always 
burned  here  was  slowly  smouldering.  It 
flung  a  red  reflection  on  the  front  of  the 
building  devoted  to  the  conferences  of  the 
aged  councilors,  painted  a  peaceful  white 
and  facing  the  setting  sun.  At  this  mo 
ment  was  emerging  from  it  a  figure  which 
Tscholens  had  not  before  seen. 

A  man  so  old  he  was  that  even  the  In 
dian's  back  was  bent.  His  face  was  of 
weird  effect,  for  amid  its  many  wrinkles 


322  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

were  streaks  of  parti-colored  paint  such  as 
he  had  worn  more  than  three  quarters  of  a 
century  earlier,  when  his  fleet  foot  and  the 
old  war-trace  were  familiar.  In  common  with 
all  the  Cherokees,  his  head  was  polled  and 
bare  save  for  a  tuft,  always  spared  to  afford 
a 'grasp  for  any  hand  bold  enough  and 
strong  enough  to  take  the  scalp;  but  this 
lock,  although  still  dense  and  full,  was  of  a 
snowy  whiteness,  contrasting  sharply  with 
the  red  paint  and  belying  the  warlike  aspect 
of  the  red-feathered  crest  that  trembled  and 
shivered  with  the  infirmities  of  his  step.  A 
heavy  robe  of  fur  reached  almost  to  his  feet, 
and  a  mantle,  curiously  wrought  of  the  iri 
descent  feathers  of  the  neck  and  breast  of 
the  wild  turkey,  bespoke  his  consequence 
and  added  to  the  singularity  of  his  aspect ; 
for  Indians  seldom  attained  such  age  in 
those  wild  days,  the  warriors  being  usually 
cut  off  in  their  prime.  It  is  to  be  doubted 
if  Tscholens  had  ever  seen  so  old  a  man,  for 
this  was  Tsiskwa  of  Citico,  reputed  then  to 
be  one  hundred  and  ten  years  of  age. 

The  step  of  the  young  grandfather,  saun 
tering  along,  came  to  an  abrupt  halt.  He 
stood  staring,  exclaiming  to  the  Cherokee 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER    323 

warrior  Savanukah,  "Pennau  wullihl  Au- 
ween  won  gintsch  pat  ?  "  (Look  yonder  ! 
Who  is  that  who  has  just  come  ?) 

It  was  an  eagle-like  majesty  which  looked 
forth  from  the  eyes  of  Tsiskwa  of  Citico,  as 
he  seated  himself  on  the  long  cane- wrought 
divan,  just  within  the  entrance  of  the  cabin 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  "  beloved  square." 
Time  can  work  but  little  change  in  such  a 
spirit.  An  eagle,  however  old,  is  always  an 
eagle. 

The  sage  lifted  one  august  claw  and 
majestically  waved  it  at  the  young  Dela 
ware  illau  (war-captain)  standing  before 
him,  while  Savanukah  turned  away  to  join 
the  dancers.  "  Lenni  Lenape  ?  —  I  remem 
ber —  I  remember  very  well  when  you  came 
from  the  West !  " 

Tscholens  was  not  stricken  with  astonish 
ment,  although  that  migration  is  held  by 
investigators  of  pre-Columbian  myths11  to 
have  occurred  before  the  ninth  century  !  It 
was  formerly  a  general  trait  among  the 
Indians  to  use  the  first  person  singular  in 
speaking  of  the  tribe,  and  to  avoid,  even  in 
its  name,  the  plural  termination.  Tsiskwa 
went  on  with  the  tone  of  reminiscence  rather 


324  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

than  legendary  lore,  and  with  an  air  of  bated 
rancor,  as  of  one  whose  corroding  grievance 
still  works  at  the  heart,  to  describe  how  the 
Lenni  Lenape  crossed  the  Mississippi  and 
fell  upon  the  widespread  settlements  of  the 
Alligewi  (or  Tallegwi)  Indians  —  considered 
identical  with  the  Cherokee  (Tsullakee)  — 
and  warred  with  them  many  years  in  folly, 
in  futility,  in  hopeless  defeat. 

He  lifted  his  eyes  and  gazed  at  the  sun. 
A  curve  of  pride  steadied  his  old  lips.  His 
face  was  as  resolute,  as  victorious,  in  looking 
backward  as  ever  it  had  been  in  vaunting 
forecast.  His  was  the  temperament  that  al 
ways  saw  in  prophecy  or  retrospect  what  he 
would  wish  to  see.  And  that  sun,  now  go 
ing  down,  had  lighted  him  all  his  life  along 
a  path  of  conscious  triumph. 

And  then,  he  continued,  the  Lenni  Len 
ape,  after  years  of  futile  war,  combined 
with  the  Mengwe,12  and  before  their  united 
force  the  Cherokee  retired  into  the  impreg 
nable  stronghold  of  their  mountains,  their 
beautiful  country,  the  pride  of  the  world ! 

He  waved  his  hand  toward  the  landscape 
—  lying  out  there  in  the  lustre  of  its  ex 
quisite  coloring,  in  the  clarified  air  and  the 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER  325 

enhancing  sunset;  in  the  ideality  of  the 
contour  of  its  majestic  lofty  mountains ;  in 
the  splendor  of  its  silver  rivers,  its  phenome 
nally  lush  forests,  its  rich  soil  —  pitying  the 
rest  of  the  world  who  must  needs  dwell  else 
where. 

"  And  here/'  he  went  on,  "  the  European 
found  me  two  centuries  ago." 

He  proceeded  to  narrate  the  advent  of 
De  Soto  and  his  followers  into  the  country 
of  the  Cherokees,  embellishing  his  account 
with  unrecorded  particulars  of  their  stay, 
especially  in  their  digging  for  gold  and  sil 
ver,  in  which  enterprise  he  himself  seemed 
to  have  actively  participated  —  only  some 
two  centuries  previous ! 

Tscholens,  listening,  looked  about  ab 
sently  at  the  "  beloved  square,"  which  was 
vacant,  with  its  open  piazza-like  building  on 
each  of  the  four  sides.  Two  or  three  men 
were  talking  in  the  "  war  cabin,"  painted  a 
vivid  red.  On  the  western  side  of  the  square 
the  roof  of  the  "  holy  cabin  "  showed  dark 
against  a  lustrous  reach  of  the  shimmering 
river ;  despite  the  shadows  within  the  broad 
entrance,  the  "  sacred  white  seat "  and  the 
red  clay  transverse  wall  that  partitioned  off 


326  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

the  sanctum  sanctorum  were  plainly  visible, 
but  all  was  empty,  deserted  —  the  cheera- 
taghe  had  departed  for  the  night. 

As  Tsiskwa  paused  to  cough,  the  Dela 
ware,  suddenly  taking  heart  of  grace,  ob 
served  that  it  had  always  been  the  boast  of 
the  Lenni  Lenape  that  they  were  the  first 
tribe  to  welcome  the  European,  the  Dutch, 
to  the  land  that  they  now  called  New  York. 

Whereupon  Tsiskwa  retorted  in  a  tem 
pest  of  racking  coughs  that,  whoever  wel 
comed  the  Europeans  here  or  there,  it  was 
no  credit  that  the  Lenape  should  be  so  for 
ward  to  appropriate  it !  The  white  people 
were  not  the  friends  of  the  red  man.  They 
wanted  the  whole  country.  FinaUy  they 
would  have  it. 

"  Mattapewiwak  nik  schwannakwak!" 
(The  white  people  are  a  deceiving  lot !)  said 
Tscholens,  seeking  some  common  ground  on 
which  they  could  meet  with  a  mutual  sen 
timent. 

And  at  once  Tsiskwa  was  all  animation 
and  as  aggressive  as  at  twenty.  Well,  in 
deed,  might  the  Lenape  say  that!  They 
were  forever  an  easy  prey  —  not  only  of  the 
astute  Europeans,  but  of  the  simple  Indian 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER    327 

as  well.  For  a  hundred  years  they  had  been 
the  dupe  of  the  Mengwe  !  As  the  mind  of 
Tsiskwa  dwelt  on  the  various  subtleties  of 
the  diplomatic  attitude  of  the  Mengwe  to 
ward  the  Lenape,  its  craft  so  appealed  to 
him  that  his  lips  curved  with  relish ;  a  smile 
irradiated  his  blurred  eyes  and  intensified 
his  wrinkles ;  his  cough,  shaking  the  folds 
of  his  outer  fur  garments  above  his  wasted 
chest,  mingled  with  his  gay  chuckle  of  mer 
riment,  as  young  as  a  boy's,  while  he  cried, 
"  Iroquois  !  Iroquois  !  "  —  the  characteristic 
exclamation  of  the  Mengwe  confederation, 
whence  they  take  their  modern  and  popular 
name,  and  signifying,  "  I  have  spoken !  I 
have  spoken ! " 

At  the  familiar  and  detested  sound  the 
Lenape  suddenly  smote  his  breast  with  his 
braceleted  arms,  and  a  strong  cry  involun 
tarily  broke  from  him  —  so  poignant,  so 
bitter,  so  shrill,  that  it  sounded  high  above 
the  bleating  flute,  the  guttural  drone  of 
the  drum,  the  vibratory  throb  of  the  dancing 
feet,  and  brought  the  pastime  to  a  sudden 
close.  In  another  moment  the  "beloved 
square  "  was  filled  with  crowds  of  the  Chero- 
kees  and  their  huddling  shadows,  all  a  med- 


328  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

ley  in  the  last  red  suffusions  of  the  sinking 
sun.  To  the  tumult  of  eager,  anxious,  polite 
questions,  Tscholens  faltered  to  Savanukah, 
who  had  hastily  returned  :  — 

"  N'schauwihilla  !  N'dagotschi  !  Lo- 
wanneunk  undchen ! "  (I  am  fainting !  I 
am  cold !  The  wind  comes  from  the  north  !) 

He  looked  ill  enough,  but  Savanukah's 
sharp  eyes  scanned  suspiciously  the  aged 
countenance  of  Tsiskwa  of  Citico.  Tsiskwa 
was,  however,  the  image  of  venerable  and 
respected  innocence.  His  aged  lips  mumbled 
one  upon  the  other  silently.  He  hardly 
seemed  to  take  note  of  the  tumult.  When 
the  afflicted  "  grandfather  "  was  being  led 
away  from  the  scene,  Savanukah  loitered  to 
ask,  with  well-couched  phrase  and  the  show 
of  deep  reverence,  what  had  been  the  tenor 
of  the  discourse,  and  it  was  with  a  galvanic 
jerk  that  the  old  man  appeared  to  gather 
his  faculties  together. 

"Of  what  did  he  talk?"  Tsiskwa  fixed 
august  eyes  upon  Savanukah  as  he  repeated 
the  query.  "  Am  /  to  remember  of  what 
young  men  talk  ?  —  the  mad  young  men  ? 
—  mad,  mad  —  all  quite  mad  !  " 

For  not  to  Savanukah,  surely,  would  he 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER    329 

confess ;  and  although  because  of  this  reti 
cence  that  discerning  party  believed  that 
Tsiskwa  had  wittingly  wounded  their  emo 
tional  "  grandfather  "  in  his  tenderest  pride 
till  he  roared  like  a  bull,  Savanukah  after 
ward  had  cause  to  repudiate  this  opinion 
in  a  conviction  which  was  less  to  the  credit 
of  the  acumen  of  Tsiskwa  than  a  full  con 
fession  of  his  breach  of  etiquette  in  torment 
ing  his  young  "  grandfather  "  might  have 
been.  At  the  time  Savanukah  felt  a  certain 
malicious  pride  in  the  old  man's  keenness 
and  poise  and  capacity,  and  he  said  apart  to 
the  inquisitive  bystanders  that,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  the  big  bird,  Tsiskwa-yah, 
had  pounced  upon  the  little  bird,  Tscholen- 
tit  —  for  the  name  of  each  signifies  a  bird 
in  their  respective  languages,  and  the  suffixes 
imply  great  and  small.  And  mightily  pleased 
was  Savanukah  with  his  own  wit. 

That  night  came  a  sudden  change.  A 
keen  frost  was  falling  soon  after  the  sun 
went  down,  for  the  wind  was  laid,  and  such 
a  chill  glittering  white  moon  came  gliding 
out  of  the  mists  about  the  dark  Great  Smoky 
domes  that  it  seemed  the  winter  incarnate. 
All  adown  the  desert  aisles  of  the  leafless 


330  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

woods  the  light  lay  with  a  flocculent  glister 
like  snow,  so  enhanced  was  its  whiteness  in 
the  rare  air  and  the  blackness  of  the  forest 
shadows  —  spare,  clearly  drawn,  all  filar  and 
fine  like  the  intricacies  of  a  delicate  line  en 
graving.  Something  that  the  daylight  might 
have  shown,  blue  and  blurred,  was  about  the 
mountains  ;  it  followed  the  progress  of  that 
wintry  moon  westward.  Presently,  drawn  up 
from  across  the  ranges,  it  proved  to  be  a 
purple  cloud,  and  despite  the  broad  section 
of  the  heavens  still  clear  and  the  glittering 
whorls  of  the  constellations,  that  cloud  held 
snow. 

As  the  loitering  southern  winter  had  been 
long  in  abeyance,  many  of  the  Cherokees  of 
Citico  Town  were  still  in  their  airy  summer 
residences,  but  in  one  of  the  conical  "  win 
ter  houses,"  stove-like,  air-tight,  windowless, 
plastered  within  and  without  with  the  im 
pervious  red  clay  of  the  region,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  great  rotunda,  Tscholens,  in 
view  of  his  sudden  seizure  and  complaint  of 
the  gentle  breeze  of  the  south  as  freighted 
with  the  chill  of  the  north,  was  consigned 
to  rest.  Half  a  dozen  Cherokee  braves  were 
detailed  to  accompany  him,  nominally  as  a 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER  331 

guard  ;  but,  there  being  no  menace,  this  was 
in  recognition  of  his  importance  and  distinc 
tion,  his  escort  of  Delaware  Indians  having 
been  billeted  about  in  the  town.  There  was 
no  chimney,  and  although  the  fire  which 
burned  in  the  centre  of  the  clay  floor  ex 
haled  but  little  smoke,  it  hung  in  the  air  for 
the  lack  of  the  means  of  escape,  and  seemed 
to  add  to  the  warmth  which  the  fuel  sent 
forth.  Now  and  again  the  superfluity  of 
ashes  encroached  on  the  live  coals.  Where 
upon  one  or  another  of  the  occupants  of  the 
restricted  apartment,  silent  and  recumbent 
upon  the  cane  divan,  which  served  now  as 
bed  and  extended  all  around  the  room  be 
tween  the  walls  and  the  row  of  posts  that 
upheld  the  roof,  would  reach  out  a  long 
stick,  furnished  for  the  purpose  to  each 
sleeper,  and  touch  off  the  incumbering  ash 
from  the  glow  of  the  embers.  As  the  night 
wore  deeper  into  the  dark  hours  these  inter 
vals  of  waking  were  rarer. 

Tscholens,  muffled  in  bed  draperies  of 
otter  furs  and  feathered  mantles,  his  cane- 
wrought  couch  softened  with  panther  and 
wolf  skins,  heard  the  wind  going  its  rounds, 
and  he  realized  that  the  direction  of  the 


332  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

currents  of  the  air  had  veered  and  it  came 
straight  from  the  north.  With  the  mere 
suggestion  his  heart  sank.  How  should  he 
return  whence  it  came?  —  baffled,  denied, 
empty-handed!  —  from  these  specious  Cher- 
okees,  who  yet  called  the  Lenape  "grand 
father." 

The  young  war-captain  had  divined  since 
he  had  been  among  them  that  the  Chero- 
kees  were  making  ready  for  war  against  the 
British  government ;  they  would  attack  the 
South  Carolina  colonists,  and  for  this  rea 
son,  if  for  no  other,  they  would  do  nothing 
to  anger  the  Mengwe,  the  Iroquois,  whom, 
however,  they  had  often  fought :  for  they 
loved  war  —  they  loved  war  ! 

Gradually  the  room  grew  less  warm.  A 
sudden  stir  sounded  under  the  divan,  and  a 
dog  presently  crept  out  to  the  fire,  stretch 
ing  lengthily  and  yawning  widely  as  he 
went.  He  bestowed  himself  in  an  upright 
posture  by  the  coals  and  looked  down  with 
drowsy  gravity  at  the  glow.  His  pendant 
ears,  his  long,  pointed  muzzle,  his  upright, 
rotund  body,  and  his  pose  of  solemn  pon 
dering  made  a  queer  shadow  on  the  wall.  He 
was  no  Cherokee,  so  to  speak,  but  was  the 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER  333 

property  of  a  French  officer,  and,  following 
his  master  here  from  Fort  Toulouse,  aux 
Alibamons,  had  been  left  in  the  care  of  a 
Cherokee  friend  to  await  his  owner's  return 
from  a  mission  to  Fort  Chartres  and  other 
French  settlements  "  in  the  Illinois."  The 
dog  spoke  any  language,  it  might  seem  ; 
for  when  one  of  the  braves,  half-awakened 
by  his  loud,  unmannerly  yawn,  called  out  a 
reproof  to  him  in  Cherokee,  he  wagged  his 
tail  among  the  cold  ashes  till  he  stirred  up 
a  cloud  of  gritty  particles ;  then  he  made 
his  way  across  the  room  to  the  speaker, 
wheezing  and  sniffing,  and  bantering  for  a 
romp,  till  he  was  caught  by  the  muzzle  and, 
squeaking  and  shriUing,  thrust  under  the 
divan  anew. 

Once  more  silence,  save  for  the  patrol 
of  the  wind  again  on  its  rounds.  Once  more 
the  flare  of  the  fire,  dying  gradually  down 
to  a  smouldering  red  glow,  akin  to  the 
smothered  red  tone  of  the  terra-cotta  waU. 
Once  more  the  hot,  angry  eyes  of  the  young 
war-captain,  staring  hopelessly,  sleeplessly 
into  the  red  gloom  and  the  dull  mischance 
of  the  future,  sequel  of  the  past. 

Suddenly  a  thought  struck  him.    It  seemed 


334  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

at  first  to  take  his  breath  away.  He  gasped 
at  the  mere  suggestion  of  its  temerity. 
Then  it  set  his  blood  beating  furiously  in  his 
veins.  After  a  space,  in  which  he  sought  to 
calm  himself,  to  still  his  nerves,  to  tame  his 
quivering  muscles,  he  rose  slowly  to  a  sit 
ting  posture,  then  stepped  deftly,  lightly  to 
the  floor.  Standing  motionless,  he  glanced 
keenly  about  in  the  dull  red  gloom.  All  si 
lence  —  no  stir  save  the  regular  rise  and  fall 
of  the  breathing  of  the  slumbering  Indians. 
Nevertheless,  with  his  keen  perceptions  all 
alert  and  tense,  he  felt  an  eye  upon  him. 
He  looked  back  warily  over  his  shoulder 
through  the  lucid  red  gloom,  like  a  palpable 
medium,  as  one  looks  through  a  veil  or  tinted 
glass. 

It  was  the  eye  of  the  dog  !  The  animal 
lay  under  the  couch,  his  muzzle  flat  on  the 
clay  floor.  A  serious  yet  doubtful  vigilance 
was  in  his  aspect.  Tscholens  was  already  at 
the  exit,  which  was  a  narrow  winding  pas 
sage  serving  as  a  wind-break,  and  with  a 
sudden  turn  leading  to  the  outer  world.  He 
heard  the  abrupt  patter  of  the  dog's  feet  on 
the  clay  floor,  and  a  drowsy  voice  calling  to 
the  animal  in  Cherokee,  admonishing  him  to 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER    335 

be  still.  Tscholens  waited  without,  and,  as 
the  dog  issued  and  with  half-aroused  sus 
picions  sniffed  dubiously  around  him,  he 
stooped  down  and  patted  the  creature's  head. 
It  was  well,  after  all,  that  he  should  follow  ; 
the  noise  of  the  dog's  exit  and  return  would 
serve  to  cover  his  own  absence. 

He  sought  craftily  to  make  friends  with 
the  dog.  "  Mon  chou  !  Mon  cochon  !"  he 
said,  aping  the  endearments  addressed  to 
dog  or  horse  which  he  had  heard  from  the 
French  officers  at  Fort  Chartres,  where  he 
had  recently  been.  Then  suddenly  in  agita 
tion  :  "  Tais  toi  !  Sois  sage  !  " 

For  the  animal  was  indeed  no  Cherokee. 
At  the  sound  of  his  native  tongue,  as  it 
were,  he  demonstrated  how  little  he  cared 
to  be  in  his  skin,  for  his  joyous  bounces 
almost  took  him  out  of  that  integument. 
Luckily  his  gambols  were  noiseless,  —  for 
the  ground  was  covered  with  snow. 

Tscholens  stood  for  a  moment  motion 
less,  his  brain  still  afire  with  the  imminent 
emprise,  but  his  hot  heart  turning  cold,  and 
failing ;  for  the  snow  —  oh,  treacherous 
cloud !  —  the  snow  would  betray  his  steps 
and  the  trail  disclose  the  mystery. 


336  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

"  Oh,  Lowannachen  !  "  (Oh,  north  wind !) 
he  moaned,  holding  up  both  hands  out 
stretched  to  the  north.  "  Oh,  wischiksil ! 
Witschemil !  "  (Oh,  be  thou  vigilant !  Help 
me !) 

Then  suddenly  lowering  his  head,  he  sped 
like  the  wind  itself  through  the  town,  along 
the  river  bant  and  into  the  sacred  precincts 
of  the  "  beloved  square."  Ah  !  here  he  had 
stood  this  evening  with  what  different  hope 
and  heart.  Here  in  front  of  the  eastern 
cabin  he  had  sat  beside  the  wily  Tsiskwa  of 
Citico,  who  might  hardly  make  feeble  shift 
to  sway  a  reed,  and  yet  with  sharp  sarcasms 
had  stabbed  him  again  and  again  to  the 
very  heart. 

"Pihmtonheu  !  Oh,  pihmtonheu  !  "  (He 
has  the  crooked  mouth !  Oh,  he  has  the 
crooked  mouth  !)  Tscholens  muttered  be 
tween  his  set  teeth  as  he  crossed  the  open 
space  and  paused  before  the  western  "  holy 
cabin." 

But  for  his  rage,  perhaps,  but  for  his 
smarting  wounds,  Tscholens  might  have  la 
bored  with  some  deterrent  sense  of  sacri 
lege.  But  no  !  With  one  elastic  bound  he 
leaped  upon  the  "  holy  white  seat,"  whence 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER    337 

he  surmounted  the  tier  of  places  still  behind 
and  higher ;  then  he  lightly  swung  himself 
down  into  the  intervening  space  in  front 
of  the  inner  partition  formed  by  a  red  clay 
wall. 

A  momentary  pause  —  a  monition  of  cau 
tion.  He  looked  back  over  his  shoulder  at 
the  pallid  world  without,  visible  across  the 
barrier  of  seats  through  the  broad  entrance 
of  the  loggia-like  place.  With  the  reflec 
tion  from  the  drifts  on  the  ground  and  the 
tempered  radiance  of  the  moon  behind  the 
tissues  of  cloud,  the  scene  seemed  more  wan, 
more  illumined  with  ghastly  light,  because 
of  the  density  of  the  gloom  wherein  he 
stood.  The  conical-shaped  winter  tenements 
had  each  a  thatch  of  snow ;  the  great  cir 
cular  council-house,  with  its  whitened  dome, 
glimmered  as  stately  as  some  marble  rotunda 
on  its  high  mound,  distinct  against  the  blur 
ring  blue  shadow  of  the  night  and  the  gray 
clouds  and  the  bare  boughs  of  the  encom 
passing  forest.  No  living  creature  was  to  be 
seen,  save  the  dog  that  had  followed  him, 
and  that  had  paused  to  investigate  some  real 
or  fancied  find  beneath  the  snow,  —  a  bone, 
perhaps,  flung  out  from  the  feastings  of 


338  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

overnight ;  perhaps  some  little  animal,  young 
or  hurt,  whelmed  in  the  drift.  Now  the  dog 
thrust  down  a  tense,  inquiring  muzzle,  sniff 
ing  tentatively,  cautiously,  and  again  he 
plied  alternately  his  forefeet  and  his  hind- 
feet,  digging  out  the  snow  from  the  quarry ; 
then  once  more,  with  a  motionless  body  and 
a  straight,  quivering  tail,  he  applied  his 
sensitive  nostrils  to  the  examination. 

Tscholens  with  gratification  noted  his  ab 
sorption.  This  was  indeed  well.  The  animal's 
persistent  following  further  might  have  ham 
pered  his  plans  and  revealed  his  intrusion. 
The  next  moment,  as  the  illau  turned  to  his 
purpose,  densest  night  seemed  to  have  en 
compassed  him.  The  shadows  cloaked  all, 
save  only  the  blank  wall  of  clay  and,  down 
close  to  the  ground,  an  arched  opening  into 
the  sanctum  sanctorum,  —  an  opening  so 
limited  that  it  might  barely  suffice  to  admit 
a  man's  body,  creeping  prone  upon  the 
earth,  and  so  whelmed  in  night  that  it 
seemed  to  give  a  new  and  adequate  inter 
pretation  of  the  idea  of  darkness.  Could 
he  hope,  all  unaccustomed  here,  to  turn  in 
that  restricted  space  to  retrace  the  way? 
Could  a  ray  of  guiding  light  be  caught 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER    339 

from  without  across  this  high,  guarding  bar 
rier  of  tiers  of  seats  ?  And  what  perchance 
might  lurk  within  instead  of  the  object  of 
this  search  ? 

At  the  mere  thought  of  this  object  of 
search  all  fear,  all  vestige  of  anxiety  van 
ished.  Tscholens  felt  his  heart  beat  fast. 
His  blood  throbbed  in  his  temples.  He 
dropped  upon  his  knees — a  sinuous,  supple 
motion,  a  vague  rustle,  and  he  had  passed 
into  the  unimagined  dark  precincts  beyond 
the  aperture. 

Absolute  quietude  now  reigned  in  the 
t(  holy  cabin."  The  darkness  filled  it  with 
a  solemnity  and  awe  that  made  a  compact 
with  silence  and  accounted  the  slightest 
sound,  the  softest  stir,  as  a  sacrilege. 

When  an  owl  —  a  tiny  thing,  the  fa 
miliar  little  "  wahuhu  "  of  the  Cherokees  — 
flitted  down  with  its  noiseless  wings  from 
out  the  sky  and  sat,  a  mere  tuft  of  feathers 
and  big  round  eyes,  on  one  of  the  eaves,  its 
shrill  cry  and  convulsive  chatter  smote  the 
night  with  a  sudden  affright  —  ah1  the  breath 
less  listening  spaces  of  the  "  beloved  square" 
seemed  to  shiver  at  the  sound,  and  the  keen 
sleety  lines  of  snow  were  tremulously  vibrant 


340  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

with  it  as  the  flakes  came  slanting  down 
once  more  from  the  north. 

For  as  Tscholens  plunged  out  from 
the  sanctuary  his  first  consciousness  of  the 
world  without  was  the  chill  touch  of  the 
falling  snow  on  his  cheek,  its  moist,  icy 
breath  on  his  lips  beating  back  his  own 
quick,  agitated  respiration.  The  little  "  wa- 
huhu,"  all  startled  by  his  sudden  exit,  rose 
with  a  sharp,  cat-like  mew  from  the  eaves 
above  his  head,  dislodging  a  drift  upon  his 
hair,  and  fluttered  away  to  a  branch  of  a 
tree,  still  gazing  after  him  as  he  sped  swiftly, 
joyously,  to  the  winter  house  where  he 
lodged,  —  the  descending  snow  would  soon 
fill  the  trace  of  his  light  footsteps  and  none 
be  the  wiser. 

All  danger  of  discovery,  however,  was 
not  overpast.  One  of  the  braves  in  the  win 
ter  house  experienced  a  vague  intimation  of 
an  entrance  into  the  building,  that  peculiar 
chill  which  accompanies  even  to  the  warmest 
fireside  an  intruder  from  the  outer  air.  It 
seemed  explained  when  he  roused  himself 
and  saw  standing  by  the  fire  the  French 
officer's  dog,  now  gazing  at  the  glow  with 
meditative  eyes,  now  diverted  to  industri- 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER    341 

ously  licking  his  sides.  As  the  long  cane 
of  the  waking  Indian  threw  off  the  summit 
of  the  ashes  and  touched  up  the  embers  to 
a  more  cordial  warmth,  the  dog,  always  rel 
ishing  companionship,  repaired  to  the  side 
of  the  divan,  and  the  young  Cherokee,  push 
ing  him  off,  noticed  the  dripping  sides  of 
the  animal  where  the  snow  had  melted  on 
the  hair. 

"  It  must  be  raining,"  he  said  to  himself, 
all  unaware  that  aught  had  entered  except 
the  dog,  coming  and  going  after  the  man 
ner  of  his  restless  kind.  The  incident  re 
curred  no  more  to  his  mind  save  for  a  vague 
recollection  of  his  error  when  he  perceived 
in  the  morning  that  it  was  snow  that  had 
fallen  in  the  night  and  not  rain. 

A  new  sensation  pervaded  the  town  upon 
its  awakening.  The  "  grandfather "  an 
nounced  the  termination  of  his  visit. 

"JVmatschif"  (I  shall  go  home)  he 
said.  And  in  explanation  of  this  sudden 
resolution,  "  JV'matunguam."  (I  have  had 
a  bad  dream.) 

Now  a  dream  among  the  Indians  was  of 
hardly  less  significance  than  among  the  He 
brews  of  old.  It  was  sufficient  justification 


342  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

for  the  undertaking  of  any  enterprise  or  for 
any  change  of  intention.  Thus  the  depar 
ture  of  the  Delaware  delegation  was  shorn 
of  all  surprise  or  imputation  of  discourtesy. 
The  head-men  among  the  Cherokees  felt  it 
very  definitely  a  relief  to  be  freed  from  the 
importunities  of  their  "  grandfather." 

"  Good  speed  to  the  journey  of  the  illau 
Tscholens  !  "  Atta  -  Kulla  -  Kulla  said  that 
evening  after  the  departure,  as  the  head 
men  of  several  towns  sat  discussing  the 
matter  around  the  council-fire  in  the  great 
state-house  of  Citico. 

"  A  turbulent '  grandfather  '  has  a  stormy 
voice  and  makes  the  heart  of  a  young  man 
like  me  very  poor  for  fear  !  "  the  aged 
Tsiskwa  coughed  out,  and  they  all  greeted 
the  great  man's  jest  with  a  laugh  of  appre 
ciation,  and  felt  it  was  well  that  one  so  old 
could  at  once  be  so  sage  and  so  merry. 
But  there  came  a  time  when  they  were  of  a 
different  mind. 

A  most  important  crisis  had  supervened 
in  the  policy  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  toward 
the  British  government  when  their  attention 
was  diverted  from  their  projected  demonstra 
tion  against  the  South  Carolina  colonists  by 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER    343 

a  sudden  attack  from  their  ancient  enemy, 
the  Mengwe  (the  Iroquois,  as  the  colonists 
called  them).  It  was  an  altogether  unpro 
voked  attack,  it  seemed.  The  martial  Cher- 
okees,  however,  always  eager  to  fight,  de 
manded  no  explanations,  but  at  once  took 
the  war-path  with  a  great  array  of  their  brisk 
young  braves,  and  because  of  this  interrup 
tion,  it  was  said,  the  war  of  the  Cherokees 
against  the  British  was  long  delayed. 

When  at  last  the  casus  belli  of  the  Iro 
quois  was  disclosed  it  struck  the  Cherokees 
of  Citico  Town  like  a  thunderbolt.  The 
Cherokee  nation,  said  the  Mengwe,  had  pre 
sumed  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the 
Lenni  Lenape,  whom  they  knew  to  have 
been  conquered  by  the  Mengwe  more  than 
a  century  earlier. 

This,  of  course,  elicited  from  the  Cher 
okees  a  denial  of  any  such  recognition. 
Whereupon  the  Lenni  Lenape  themselves 
produced  in  counter-asseveration  the  official 
belt  of  the  Cherokees,  given  in  exchange  for 
their  own,  and  brought  to  the  hand  of  their 
chief  sachem  by  their  young  illau  Tscholens, 
from  Citico  Town,  the  residence  of  the  Chief 
Tsiskwa. 


344  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

A  deep  amazement  fell  upon  the  Chero- 
kees  of  Citico  —  the  sort  of  superstitious 
consternation  that  a  somnambulist  might 
feel  in  contemplating  in  broad  daylight  the 
deeds  he  had  wrought  in  sleep-walking.  As 
to  the  rest  of  the  nation,  it  was  in  vain  that 
Tsiskwa  denied  ;  for  there  were  many  con 
firmatory  details  in  support  of  the  incontest 
able  fact  of  the  official  belt  openly  shown 
in  the  possession  of  the  Lenni  Lenape.  The 
gossips  recapitulated  the  long  and  solitary 
audience  with  Tsiskwa  to  which  Tscholens 
had  been  admitted  —  that  strange  wild  cry 
with  which  it  had  terminated  seeming  now 
a  cry  of  joy,  not  pain  ;  and  this  interpre 
tation  was  borne  out  by  the  obvious  affecta 
tion  of  illness  by  which  he  had  sought  to 
hide  the  true  import  of  the  interview.  More 
than  all,  the  matter  was  put  beyond  reason 
able  doubt  by  the  discovery  of  the  official 
belt  of  the  Delawares  in  the  sanctum  sanc 
torum  of  the  "  holy  cabin  "  in  the  "  beloved 
square  "  among  the  treasures  of  the  blended 
religion  and  statecraft  which  pertained  to 
the  government  of  the  Cherokees.  That 
Tscholens  could  have  surreptitiously  ex 
changed  the  belts,  as  Tsiskwa  of  Citico, 


THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER  345 

dismayed,  overwhelmed,  yet  blusteringly 
contended,  was  held  to  be  preposterous  ;  for 
there  was  not  a  moment,  sleeping  or  waking, 
when  the  Delawares  were  not  in  the  com 
pany  and  close  charge  of  the  Cherokees, 
who  must  needs  have  been  cognizant  of  any 
such  demonstration. 

Only  one  explanation  was  deemed  plausi 
ble  :  the  old  man,  doubtless  in  his  dotage 
despite  his  seeming  mental  poise,  had  lost 
sight  of  the  political  significance  of  the 
bauble ;  he  had  bestowed  it  after  the  man 
ner  of  the  presents  that  all  were  unofficially 
heaping  upon  the  "  grandfather,"  and  had 
mechanically,  unthinkingly,  received  in  ex 
change  the  Delaware  belt. 

After  one  reeling  moment  of  doubt  the 
town  of  Citico  recovered  its  balance  and 
loyally  supported  its  prince,  but  the  rest  of 
the  nation  was  unanimous  in  the  acceptance 
of  the  popular  interpretation. 

How  far  extended  the  influence  of  this 
recognition  by  the  Cherokees  of  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  Lenni  Lenape  it  is  impossi 
ble  to  say,  but  it  is  well  known  that  they 
acted  independently  in  the  American  phase 
of  the  Seven  Years'  War  and  fought  on 


346  THE  TURBULENT  GRANDFATHER 

behalf  of  the  French,  and  in  the  Revolu 
tion  they  took  the  part  of  the  Americans 
against  the  British,  contrary  to  the  policy 
of  the  Mengwe.  About  the  time  of  the 
treaty  of  the  United  States  with  the  In 
dians  in  1795,  the  Mengwe,  who  had  been 
greatly  cast  down  by  the  defeat  of  their 
allies,  the  British,  came  forward  of  their 
own  accord  and  desired  publicly  to  ac 
knowledge  the  independence  of  the  Lenni 
Lenape. 

The  masterly  political  machinations  of 
Tscholens  and  the  mystery  in  which  they 
were  enveloped  did  not  permanently  impair 
the  cordial  relations  existing  between  his 
tribe  and  the  Cherokees,  for  so  late  as  1779 
a  delegation  of  fourteen  Cherokees  is  chron 
icled  as  appearing  in  the  country  of  the 
Lenni  Lenape  at  their  council-fire,  to  con 
dole  with  them  on  the  death  of  their  head- 
chief  ;  but  neither  before  nor  since  is  there 
any  record  of  another  visit  of  the  turbulent 
"  grandfather  "  to  the  banks  of  the  Tennes 
see  Kiver. 


NOTES 


NOTES 

1.  Page  6.    The  annals  of  the  southwestern  settle 
ments  commemorate  many  instances  of  daring  hearts 
in  delicate  frames,  and  the  pioneer  woman  who  per 
haps  under  softer  and  safer  circumstances  would  have 
screamed  at  a  mouse  often  shouldered  a  rifle  and 
bravely  joined   the   frontiersmen  in  the   defense  of 
the  stockade  against  the  most  cruel,  most  wily,  most 
warlike   savage  foe  that  ever  a  civilized  force  en 
countered.    Courage,  of  all  the  qualities  of  the  moral 
panoply,  is  the  least  to  be  reckoned  with  by  logic. 
Perhaps  after  all  it  is  not  inherent,  even  in  the  no 
bler  organisms,  but  evolved  by  a  conscientious  sense 
of  responsibility  and  the  dynamic  potencies  of  emer 
gency.    La  Bruyere  says :  "  Jetez-moi  dans  les  troupes 
comme  un  simple  soldat,  je  suis  Thersite :  mettez- 
moi  a  la  tete  d'une   armee  dont  j'aie  a  repondre 
a  toute  V Europe,  je  suis  Achille  !  " 

2.  Page  114.   The  chungke  stone  of  this  favorite 
game  of  the  southern  Indians  bears  a  certain  resem 
blance   to   the   ancient  discus  of  the  Greek  athlete. 
This,  it  will  be  remembered,  fashioned  of  metal  or 
stone,  circular,  almost  flat,  was  clasped  by  the  fingers 
of  one  hand  and  held  in  the  bend  of  the  forearm, 
extending  almost  to  the  elbow.   The  genuine  chungke 
stone  is  solid  and  discoidal  in  shape,  beautifully  pol 
ished,  wrought  of  quartz,  or  agate,  the  most  distinc- 


350  NOTES 

tive  being  concave  on  both  sides,  beveled  toward  the 
flat  outer  edge,  and  having  a  depression  in  the  centre 
of  both  surfaces  for  the  convenience  of  holding  it  with 
the  second  finger  and  thumb,  the  first  finger  clasping 
the  periphery.  Its  usual  dimensions  are  about  six  or 
eight  inches  in  diameter.  There  are  several  varieties 
of  these  archaic  relics,  some  flat,  others  lenticular  or 
of  a  wedge-shell  shape,  and  others,  still,  concave  on 
one  side  and  convex  on  the  other.  An  absolutely 
spherical  stone,  bearing  the  extraordinarily  high  pol 
ish  that  distinguishes  these  unique  objects,  found  in 
an  ancient  mound  and  supposed  to  have  relation  to  the 
same  or  a  similar  game,  calls  to  mind  the  globular 
quoit  of  the  classical  athletes  and  that  "enormous 
round  "  described  by  Homer,  "Action's  quoit"  —  to 
hurl  which  bowl  they  vie,  "  who  teach  the  disk  to 
sound  along  the  sky." 

The  exquisite  finish  of  the  chungke  stone  was  com 
passed  without  the  aid  of  a  single  tool,  merely  by  the 
attrition  of  one  stone  upon  another,  "  from  time  im 
memorial  rubbed  smooth  upon  the  rocks,  with  prodi 
gious  labor,"  resulting  in  an  object  of  such  symmetri 
cal  beauty  that  even  in  the  museums  of  the  present 
day,  out  of  which  it  is  rarely  seen,  it  challenges  ad 
miration.  Antiquaries  variously  contend  that  it  was 
hurled  through  the  air  and  that  it  was  bowled  on  the 
edge  along  the  ground,  its  equilibrium  being  so  per 
fect  that  on  a  level  space  it  will  roll  a  great  distance, 
falling  only  when  its  impetus  is  expended. 

The  chungke  stone  is  often  confounded  with  the  In 
dian  quoit,  likewise  circular  and  fashioned  of  smoothly 
wrought  stone,  but  with  an  orifice  in  the  centre,  ren- 


NOTES  351 

dering  it  in  effect  a  ring  to  be  flung  over  a  stake  at  a 
distance,  or  to  be  caught  on  the  point  of  a  lance. 

It  has  been  inferred  that  Adair  is  mistaken  in  his 
assertion  that  by  the  Indian  law  the  chungke  stones 
were  exempt  from  burial  with  the  effects  of  the  dead, 
since  certain  of  the  most  perfect  specimens  known  to 
modern  archaeological  collections  were  found  in  the 
exploration  of  mounds  in  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee 
River.  By  many  these  mounds  are  supposed  to  be 
prehistoric,  and  the  game  is  doubtless  of  an  unima 
ginable  antiquity.  As  late  as  his  day,  among  the  Cher- 
okees,  1736,  the  stones  were  kept  with  the  "  strictest 
religious  care,"  and  were  the  property  of  the  town 
where  the  game  was  played. 

Adair,  despite  his  roving  life,  had  evidently  scant 
sympathy  with  athletics.  He  may  have  been  grow 
ing  old  and  indolent  when  he  speaks  of  the  game 
as  a  "  task  of  stupid  drudgery  "  and  opines  that  in 
stead  of  a  sport  it  might  "  with  propriety  of  lan 
guage  "  be  described  as  "  running  hard  labor."  Other 
eye-witnesses,  however,  vaunt  the  great  beauty  and 
grace  of  the  game.  Captain  Bernard  Romans  chron 
icles  with  relish  the  dexterity  requisite,  the  great 
strength  and  skill  displayed  by  the  participants  in  the 
violent  exercise,  although  demurely  moralizing  the 
while  on  its  perilous  fascination  to  both  players  and 
spectators,  by  reason  of  the  inordinate  temptation  pre 
sented  by  its  doubtful  chances  to  the  reckless  gambler. 
Lieutenant  Timberlake  alone  calls  it  "  nettecawaw." 

As  there  are  moot  points  concerning  the  stones  them 
selves  and  the  conduct  of  the  sport,  so  the  chungke 
spears  differ  in  the  accounts  of  the  early  adventurers 


352  NOTES 

in  this  region.  The  length  is  variously  given  as  eight, 
ten,  twelve  feet.  The  shape  is  sometimes  represented 
as  a  lance  or  pole  heavy  in  the  centre  and  tapering  at 
both  ends  to  a  blunt  point,  and  others  describe  an 
implement  resembling  a  magnified  golf  club  of  the 
present  day. 

3.  Page  114.    This    choice    decoration,     popular 
though  it  was,  could  not  be  attained  without  a  penalty 
commensurate   with   its  valuation.     It  is   stated  by 
early  travelers  among   the  Indian  tribes  that  thirty 
days  were  required  to  properly  heal  an  ear  thus  dis 
tended  a  la  mode.    The  patient,  if  one  so  prideful 
might  be  so  called,  could  only  have  one  ear  in  the 
painful  process  at  a  time,  in  order  that  he  might  be 
able  to  lie  in  sleeping  on  the  other  side  until  such 
time  as  his  embellished  ear  should  be  again  service 
able  for  this  prosaic  purpose,  and  permit  the  like  de 
coration  of  the  opposite  member. 

4.  Page  142.    An   illustration   of  how  the  Choc- 
taws  profited  by  these  earnest  labors  may  be  given  in 
the  fate  of  a  chapel  erected  for  their  benefit  at  Chick- 
asaha  by  the  French  and  placed  in  charge  of  a  Jesuit 
missionary.    The  Choctaws  so  far  accepted  Christian 
ity  as  to  be  able  to  travesty  the  services  and  mimic 
the  priest  with  surprising  humor  and  verisimilitude 
when  the  English  came  in,  and  were  wont  to  go  to  the 
old  chapel  for  this  profane  exhibition  to  the  mingled 
delight  and  reprobation  of  the  military  newcomers. 
The  chapel  was  soon  afterward  destroyed,  but  Captain 
Romans  records  that  in  1771  he  saw  the  cross  still 
standing  on  the  site,  a  melancholy  memorial  of  futile 
missionary  endeavor. 


NOTES  353 

All  the  Indians,  however,  were  temperamentally 
averse  to  the  services  and  tenets  of  the  Christian  reli 
gion,  and  Timberlake  gives  an  instance  among  the 
Cherokees  in  1760  in  which  a  missionary  was  balked 
by  a  unique  interruption.  "  Mr.  Martin,  who  having 
preached  Scripture  till  both  he  and  his  audience  were 
heartily  tired,  was  told  at  last  that  they  knew  very 
well  that  if  they  were  good  they  would  go  up  ;  if  bad, 
down ;  that  he  could  tell  no  more ;  that  he  had  long 
plagued  them  with  what  they  no  ways  understood,  and 
they  desired  that  he  would  depart  the  country." 

The  epitome  of  theology  thus  deduced  was  so  far 
a  just  conclusion.  But  doubtless  the  Indians  labored 
greatly  with  imperfect  comprehension.  Humboldt 
describes  a  service  among  a  South  American  tribe,  in 
which  a  missionary  preaching  in  Spanish  was  at  his 
wits'  end  to  make  his  audience  differentiate  between 
infierno  and  invierno.  They  persisted  in  shivering 
with  horror  at  the  picture  of  the  hell  of  his  warnings 
in  which  the  wicked  were  supposed  to  be  subjected 
to  everlasting  winter.  One  is  tempted  to  think  that 
the  end  might  have  justified  the  means  if  the  good 
padre  had  fallen  in  with  the  prejudice  against  the 
rainy  season  and  adopted,  in  lieu  of  the  fire-and-brim- 
stone  of  Scripture,  as  a  future  state  of  punishment,  the 
icy  Ninth  Circle  of  Dante's  Inferno,  where 

"  Eran  V  ombre  dolenti  nella  ghiaccia, 
Mettendo  i  denti  in  nota  di  cicogna" 

5.  Page  151.  The  cultivation  of  personal  pride 
was  an  essential  element  of  training  among  the  In 
dians.  They  held  the  lower  ranks  of  white  people  in 


354  NOTES 

great  contempt,  and  Timberlake  records  that  in  some 
athletic  diversions  at  which  he  and  other  members  of 
the  Virginia  regiment  were  present  they  refused  to 
play  or  to  hold  conference  with  any  of  the  troops 
except  the  officers. 

6.  Page  179.    The  primary  and  somewhat  com 
plex  significance  of  the  word  ada-wehi  is  suggested 
by  the  idea  of  sorcery,  —  a  man,  or  animal,  or  even 
element  endowed  with  uncontrolled  superlative  and 
supernatural  powers.    It  has  been  stated  that  since 
the  introduction  of  Christianity  and  the  printing  of 
the  New  Testament  in  the  Cherokee  typographical 
character  the  word  has  been  utilized  with  its  subtle 
ties  of  signification  to  express  spirit  or  angel.    In  this 
story,  however,  the  scene  of  which  is  laid  in  a  period 
long  previous  to  the  conversion  of  the  tribe,  or  even 
the  accepted  date  of  the  invention  of  the  Cherokee 
alphabet,  the  word  is  used  in  its  early  and  original 
sense  to  denote  a  magician  of  special  and  expansive 
gifts  of  sorcery. 

7.  Page  186.    Although   this   officer's   name  was 
regularly  incorporated  into  the  Cherokee  vocabulary 
as  a  synonym  of  disaster,  he  seemed  to  revolt  at  the 
unhappy  plight  of  the  people  whom  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duty  he  had  succeeded  in  reducing  to  so  abject 
a  condition  of  despair  and  woe,  and  has  left  on  record 
expressions  of  compassion  incongruous  with  his  deeds 
and  his  position  as  a  professed  soldier  of  long  experi 
ence.     He  had  served  in  Flanders  and  Ireland  in  his 
youth  as  captain  in  the  Royal  Scots  before  he  first 
came  to  America  as  major  in  Montgomerie's  regiment 
of  Highlanders. 


NOTES  355 

Some  adequate  idea  of  the  desolation  and  destitu 
tion  of  the  Indians  may  be  gleaned  from  the  reports 
to  the  British  government :  "  The  Cherokees  must 
certainly  starve  or  come  into  terms,  and  even  in  that 
case  Colonel  Grant  thinks  it  is  hardly  in  the  power 
of  the  provincials  to  save  them.  He  proposed  in  a 
few  days  to  send  for  The  Great  Warrior  (Oconostota) 
and  The  Little  Carpenter  (Atta-Kulla-Kulla)  to  come 
and  treat  for  peace,  if  they  choose  to  save  their  nation 
from  destruction.  Till  he  receives  their  answer  he 
will  endeavor  to  save  the  small  remains  of  the  Lower 
Towns.  In  the  mean  time  Colonel  Grant  intends  to 
put  Fort  Prince  George  into  repair,  and  to  wait 
there  or  at  Ninety-Six  till  he  receives  orders  from 
Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst." 

The  idea  of  the  pangs  of  hunger  and  the  sight  of 
starvation  and  deprivation  may  have  been  the  more 
repugnant  to  Colonel  Grant  since  he  was  himself 
famous  as  a  bon  vivant  and  gourmet.  Indeed,  even 
yet,  in  turning  old  pages  we  come  upon  records  of 
his  dinners.  Bartram,  the  Philadelphia  botanist, 
whom  the  Muscogee  Indians  quaintly  called  Puc- 
Puggy  (the  Flower  Hunter)  details  the  great  size  of 
a  rattlesnake,  "  six  feet  long  and  as  thick  as  the  leg 
of  an  ordinary  man  "  which  he  chanced  to  kill  in  his 
bosky  researches  near  Fort  Picolata  in  Florida,  and 
not  the  least  surprising  feature  of  the  incident  was 
a  message  from  the  commandant  inviting  both  com 
batants  to  dinner,  "  Governor  Grant  being  very  fond 
of  rattlesnake  flesh."  This  officer,  at  that  time  Royal 
Governor  of  East  Florida,  was  holding  a  congress 
with  the  Creek  Indians  hard  by  the  fort,  having  come 


356  NOTES 

from  St.  Augustine  with  a  detachment  of  its  gar 
rison  for  the  purpose.  Bartram,  dining  in  company 
with  Grant  that  day,  saw  his  enemy  served  up  in  sev 
eral  different  styles,  —  and  he,  too,  must  turn  soft 
hearted  !  —  he  could  not  partake  of  the  dish,  —  and 
"  was  sorry  after  killing  the  serpent,  when  coolly  re 
collecting  every  circumstance  of  it."  However,  neither 
the  rattlesnake  nor  the  Cherokees  were  in  condition 
to  profit  by  these  belated  graces  of  magnanimity. 

Through  Grant's  scattered  correspondence  there  is 
a  flavor  of  "vivers."  Frederick  George  Mulcaster, 
still  with  the  garrison  of  St.  Augustine,  in  a  letter  ad 
dressed  to  Grant,  then  in  Boston,  laughingly  alludes 
to  his  constant  good  cheer.  "Captain  Urquhart 
writes  to  his  brother  officers  here  that '  General  Grant 
lives  like  a  General!'"  And  later,  in  piteous  con 
trast,  "His  Excellency  (the  new  Royal  Governor) 
gave  a  dinner  yesterday  to  the  officers  of  the  Four 
teenth  and  some  others.  It  is  the  only  dinner  he  has 
given  since  the  one  he  gave  to  John  Stuart  (famous 
as  the  survivor  of  Fort  Loudon)  upon  his  arrival 
here,"  —  a  matter  of  two  months.  He  further  notes 
as  a  point  of  interest,  "  Your  black  man,  Alexander, 
was  with  me  this  instant  to  inquire  after  your  health, 
and  has  loaded  me  with  beaucoup  de  complimens. 
He  wishes  much  to  come  to  make  your  bread." 
Doubtless  it  was  well  made,  for  Grant,  prospering, 
went  on  from  dinner  to  dinner,  from  promotion  to 
promotion,  attaining  the  rank  of  General  in  the  army 
and  great  corpulency,  representing  Sutherlandshire 
in  the  British  Parliament  many  years,  and  dying  at 
the  age  of  eighty-six  at  his  birthplace,  Ballindalloch, 
in  the  north  of  Scotland. 


NOTES  357 

8.  Page  212.     The  "  Annual  Register  "  in  giving 
among  State  Papers  the  text  of  a  treaty  between 
Governor  Lyttleton  of  South  Carolina,  Captain-Gen 
eral,  etc.,  and  Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  "deputy  for  the  whole 
Cherokee  Nation,"  dated  at  Fort  Prince  George,  Dec. 
26,   1759,   adds  in  a  note :    "  Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  the 
Little  Carpenter,  who  concluded  this  treaty  in  behalf 
of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  was  in  England  and  at  court 
several  times  in  the  year  1730." 

9.  Page  215.    The  oratorical  gifts  of  this  Indian 
(under  the  name   Chollochcullah,  supposed  to  be  a 
phonetic  variant   of   Atta-Kulla-Kulla)  are  thus  de 
scribed  in  The  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  October, 
1755,  chronicling  the  details  of  an  earlier  diplomatic 
occasion :  "  The  speaker  rose  up,  and  holding  a  bow 
in  one  hand  and  a  sheaf  of  arrows  in  the  other,  he 
delivered  himself  in  the  following  words,  with  all  the 
distinctness  imaginable,  with  the  dignity  and  graceful 
action  of  a  Roman  or  Grecian  orator,  and  with  all 
their  ease  and  eloquence." 

10.  Page  231.    Their  tribal  name,  "  men  of  fire," 
and  their   great  veneration   for   that   element    have 
given  rise  to  the  conjecture  that  the  Cherokees  were 
originally  fire-worshipers,  as  well  as  polytheistic.  The 
interpolation  of  the  intensative  syllable  "  ta "  is,  ac 
cording  to  Adair,  a  "  note  of  magnitude,"  and  the 
title  of  their  prophets,  whose  functions  are  blended  as 
priests,  conjurers,  physicians,    and  councilors,  —  the 
cheera-taghe,  —  signifies  "  men  of  divine  fire."     But 
Adair  protests  that  the  theistic  ideals  of  the  Indians 
were  wholly  spiritual,  and  that  they  had  no  plurality 
of  gods.   They  paid  their  devotions  merely   to   the 


358  NOTES 

"  great  beneficent  supreme  holy  spirit  of  fire,  who 
resides  as  they  think  above  the  clouds,"  and  he  argues 
plausibly  that  if  they  worshiped  fire  itself  they  would 
not  have  willfully  extinguished  the  sanctified  element 
annually  on  the  last  day  of  the  old  year  throughout 
the  nation,  the  invariable  custom,  before  the  cheera- 
taghe  of  each  town  kindled  the  "  holy  fire  "  anew,  this 
being  one  of  their  exclusive  functions.  It  may  be  that 
in  their  ancient  rhapsodies  (many  of  which  Mr.  James 
Mooney  has  collected  for  the  Smithsonian  Institu 
tion)  addressed  to  bird  or  flame  or  beast  the  Indians 
adopted  a  poetic  license  no  more  significant  of  poly 
theism  than  the  flights  of  fancy  of  many  Christian 
poets  in  odes  to  the  moon,  to  Fate,  "  to  the  red  planet 
Mars,"  to  the  "wild  west  wind."  Mere  impersona 
tion  and  invocation  in  apostrophe  and  paeans  are  not 
necessarily  worship.  Doubtless  these  spells  and  charms 
often  arose  from  a  superstitious  half-belief,  an  ima 
ginative  freak,  such  as  possesses  the  civilized  visionary 
who  shows  a  coin  to  the  new  moon  to  propitiate  its 
fancied  waxing  influence  in  behalf  of  a  balance  at  the 
banker's,  or  the  Christianized  Scotch  Highlander  of 
even  the  early  nineteenth  century  who  threw  a  piece 
of  hasty  pudding  over  the  left  shoulder  on  the  an 
niversary  of  Beoildin  (the  Gaelic  for  no  other  than 
Baal)  to  appease  the  spirits  of  the  mists,  the  winds, 
the  ravens,  the  eagles,  and  thus  protect  the  crops 
and  flocks.  There  is  a  thin  boundary  line  as  difficult 
to  define  as  "  to  distinguish  and  divide  a  hair  'twixt 
south  and  southwest  side,"  between  true  belief  and 
feigned  credence. 

The  veneration  of  the  ancient  Cherokees  for  the 


NOTES  359 

element  of  fire,  in  addition  to  their  name,  its  care 
ful  conservation  throughout  the  year,  their  addresses 
to  its  spirit,  Higayuli  Tsunega,  hatu  ganiga  (O 
Ancient  White,  you  have  drawn  near  to  listen),  is 
further  manifested  by  its  traces  found  in  the  explo 
ration  of  burial  mounds,  intimating  a  ceremonial  in 
troduction  of  the  element  at  the  remote  period  of 
interment,  —  if,  indeed,  the  construction  of  these 
mounds  can  be  ascribed  to  the  Cherokees.  Those  on 
which  their  town  houses  were  erected  at  a  later  date, 
the  clay-covered  rotunda  forming  a  superstructure  look 
ing  like  a  small  mountain  at  a  little  distance,  accord 
ing  to  Timberlake,  wherein  were  held  the  assemblies, 
whether  for  amusement  or  council  or  religious  observ 
ances,  served  also  as  a  substitute  for  the  modern 
bulletin-board.  Two  stands  of  colors  were  flying,  one 
from  the  top  of  the  town  house,  the  other  at  the  door. 
These  ensigns  were  white  for  peace,  and  exchanged 
for  red  when  war  impended.  "  The  news  hollow,"  as 
Timberlake  phrases  the  cry,  sounded  from  the  summit 
of  the  mound,  would  occasion  the  assembling  of  all 
the  community  in  the  rotunda  to  hear  the  details  from 
the  lips  of  the  chief.  How  much  more  the  "death 
hollow,"  harbinger  of  woe  ! 

11.  Page  323.  They  are  hardly  to  be  regarded  as 
myths  perhaps,  rather  as  dislocated  relics  of  fact. 
In  treating  of  the  ''Origin  of  American  Nations," 
Dr.  Barton  says :  "  These  traditions  are  entitled  to 
much  consideration,  for,  notwithstanding  the  rude 
condition  of  most  of  the  tribes,  they  are  often  per 
petuated  in  great  purity,  as  I  have  discovered  by 
much  attention  to  their  history."  It  is  generally  ac- 


360  NOTES 

cepted  that  the  first  historical  mention  of  the  Cher- 
okees  occurs  under  the  name  of  Chelaque  in  the 
chronicles  of  De  Soto's  expedition  in  1540  when  they 
already  occupied  the  Great  Smoky  Mountains  and  the 
contiguous  region,  but  the  Indians  themselves  had  a 
tradition,  according  to  Haywood's  Natural  and  Abo 
riginal  History  of  Tennessee,  which  was  recited  an 
nually  at  the  Green  Corn  Dance,  in  which  they 
claimed  that  they  were  the  earlier  mound  builders  on 
the  upper  Ohio,  whence  they  had  migrated  at  a  re 
mote  date.  They  can  be  identified  with  the  ancient 
Talega  or  Tallegwi  if  the  records  of  the  Walam  Olum 
(painted  sticks)  may  be  believed,  the  wooden  originals 
of  which  are  said  to  have  been  preserved  till  1822 
and  considered  inexplicable,  till  their  mnemonic  signs 
and  a  manuscript  song  in  the  Lenni  Lenape  language, 
obtained  from  a  remnant  of  the  Delaware  Indians, 
were  translated  by  Professor  C.  S.  Rafinesque  "  with 
deep  study  of  the  Delaware  and  the  aid  of  Zeisberger's 
manuscript  Dictionary  in  the  library  of  the  Philo 
sophical  Society." 

In  this,  a  dynasty  of  Lenni  Lenape  chiefs  and  the 
events  of  their  reigns  are  successively  named,  and 
from  the  first  mention  of  their  encounter  with  the 
warlike  Tallegwi  or  Cherokee  to  the  discovery  of  Co 
lumbus  there  is  necessarily  implied  the  passage  of 
many  centuries.  Even  the  time  that  has  elapsed  since 
the  Tallegwi  were  overthrown  by  them  is  estimated 
as  somewhat  more  than  a  thousand  years,  thus  placing 
this  defeat  in  the  ninth  century.  Professor  Cyrus 
Thomas  in  "The  Cherokees  of  Pre-Columbian  Times  " 
states  that  he  thinks  it  would  be  more  nearly  correct  to 


NOTES  361 

credit  the  event  to  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century. 
He  quotes  in  support  of  his  theory  from  the  Walam- 
Olum  as  translated  by  Dr.  Brinton,  who  giving  the 
original  in  parallel  pages,  with  the  mnemonic  signs, 
does  not  use  in  the  English  version  the  Indian  names 
of  the  chiefs. 

This  record  of  the  Walam-Olum  is  really  very  curi 
ous.  After  passing  the  account  of  the  Creation,  the 
Flood,  the  Migrations,  and  entering  upon  the  Chron 
icles,  the  Walam-Olum  reads  much  like  a  Biblical 
genealogy,  save  that  in  lieu  of  scions  of  a  parent  tree 
these  are  military  successors,  war-captains.  The  follow 
ing  quotations  are  from  the  version  given  by  Squier : 

"  47.  Opekasit  (East-looking)  being  next  chief,  was 
sad  because  of  so  much  warfare. 

48.  Said  let  us  go  to  the  Sun-rising  (  Wapagishek) 
and  many  went  east  together. 

49.  The  Great   River    (Messussipu)   divided  the 
land  and  being  tired  they  tarried  there. 

50.  Yagawanend  (Hut-Maker)  was  next  sakimau, 
and  then  the  Tallegwi  were  found  possessing  the  east. 

51.  Followed     Chitanitis    (Strong  Friend),    who 
longed  for  the  rich  east  land. 

52.  Some  went  to  the  east  but  the  Tallegwi  killed 
a  portion. 

53.  Then  all  of  one  mind  exclaimed  war,  war  ! 

54.  The  Talamatan   (Not-of-themselves)  and  the 
Nitilowan  all  united  (to  the  war). 

55.  Kinnehepend  (Sharp-looking)  was  their  leader, 
and  they  went  over  the  river. 

56.  And  they  took  all  that  was  there  and  despoiled 
and  slew  the  Tallegwi. 


362  NOTES 

57.  Pimokhasuwi  (Stirring  About)  was  next  chief, 
and  then  the  Tallegwi  were  much  too  strong. 

58.  Tenchekensit  (Open  Path)  followed  and  many 
towns  were  given  up  to  him. 

59.  Paganchihilla  was  chief,  —  and  the  Tallegwi 
all  went  southward." 

After  the  earliest  mention  of  the  Tallegwi  in  verse 
50  of  the  First  Chronicle  there  are  about  fifty  chief 
tains  enumerated,  and  characterized  with  their  suc 
cessive  reigns  before  the  entrance  of  the  white  dis 
coverers  of  the  continent  at  the  end  of  the  Second 
Chronicle.  In  this  it  is  stated  at  verse  — 

"  56.  Nenachipat  was  chief  toward  the  sea. 

57.  Now  from  north  and  south  came  the  Wapaga- 
chik  (white  comers). 

58.  Professing  to  be  friends,  in  big  birds  (ships). 
Who  are  they  ?  " 

And  with  this  dramatic  climax  the  ancient  picture 
record  closes. 

What  is  known  as  the  Modern  Chronicle,  a  frag 
ment,  begins  with  the  answer,  "  Alas  !  Alas  !  we  know 
now  who  they  are,  these  Wapinsis  (East  People) 
who  came  out  of  the  sea  to  rob  us  of  our  lands." 

And  that  the  modern  chronicle  shall  be  certainly 
correct  the  successor  of  Lekhibit  (the  compiler  of  the 
ancient  story)  is  assisted  by  critical  philologists,  and 
Rafinesque  takes  issue  with  Holm  touching  a  Swedish 
suffix  in  an  Indian  name.  "  Mattanikum  was  chief  in 
1645.  He  is  called  '  Mattahorn '  by  Holm,  and  « horn ' 
is  not  Lenapi !  " 

It  is  difficult  to  adjust  one's  credulity  to  accept  as 
history  this  singular  Indian  picture-record.  Its  au- 


NOTES  363 

thenticity  is  supported  by  the  great  scope  of  the  sys 
tem  and  the  reputed  subtlety  and  close  accuracy  by 
which  abstract  ideas,  the  origin  of  things,  the  powers 
of  nature,  the  elements  of  religion,  could  be  expressed 
and  read  by  those  conversant  with  the  mnemonic  signs, 
—  as  easily,  Heckewelder  says,  as  a  piece  of  writing. 
The  noted  antiquary  Squier,  however,  who  in  this  con 
nection  has  lauded  Rafinesque's  industry,  scientific 
attainments,  and  eager  researches,  states  that  since 
writing  in  this  vein  he  has  seen  fit  to  read  this  au 
thor's  American  Nations  and  finds  it  "  a  singular 
jumble  of  facts  and  fancies,"  and  adds  that  it  is  un 
fortunate  that  the  manuscript  in  question  should  fall 
in  this  category.  To  praise,  even  with  qualifications, 
the  author  without  reading  all  his  work  on  the  sub 
ject,  while  certainly  more  amiable,  is  hardly  more 
conducive  to  an  impartial  estimate  than  to  disparage 
on  hearsay,  according  to  that  travesty  of  critical 
judgment :  " '  Que  dites-vous  du  livre  d'Hermodore  ? ' 
*  Qu'il  est  mauvais,'  repond  Anthime  .  .  .  '  Mais 
Vavez-vous lu?' '  NonJ dit  Anthime.  Que n'ajoute-t-il 
qiie  Fulvie  et  Melanie  Vont  condamne  sans  V avoir  lu, 
et  qu'il  est  ami  de  Fulvie  et  de  Melanie  ?  " 

In  contrast  with  this  method  the  caution  and  criti 
cal  scrutiny  with  which  Dr.  Brinton,  in  his  work  on 
"  The  Lenape,"  deliberates  upon  the  question  of  the 
authenticity  of  the  Walam  Olum  are  indeed  marked. 
He  carefully  examines  all  the  details  both  favorable 
and  adverse,  and  finally  adduces  the  evidence  of  the 
text  itself.  The  manuscript  submitted  by  him  to  edu 
cated  Indians  of  the  Lenni  Lenape  is  pronounced  to 
be  a  genuine  oral  composition  of  a  Delaware  Indian 


364  NOTES 

in  an  ancient  dialect,  evidently  dictated  to  one  not 
wholly  conversant  with  all  the  terminal  inflections  of 
the  words,  which  occasional  omissions  form  the  chief 
defect  of  the  curious  "  Red  Score." 

12.  Page  324.  Some  authorities  hold  that  the 
Talamatan  (Not-of-themselves)  mentioned  by  the 
Walam-Olum  were  the  Hurons  who  allied  them 
selves  with  the  Delawares  against  the  Tallegwi,  and 
that  Heckewelder  is  mistaken  in  stating  that  these 
confederates  were  the  Mengwe.  This  story,  however, 
follows  the  account  of  the  war  and  the  subsequent  sub 
jection  of  the  Delawares  as  given  by  Heckewelder. 


Electrotype*  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &>  Co. 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.S.  A. 


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